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BRITISH MONACHISM 



<H 



OR, 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 



OF THE 



jHonits anti JEuns of €nglantL 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 



PEREGRINATORIUM RELIGIOSUM ; OR, MAN- I III. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CONTINENTES, OR 

NERS AND CUSTOMS OF ANCIENT PILGRIMS. PERSONS WHO HAD MADE VOWS OF CHASTITY. 

:. THE CONST '■■'". SELECT POEMS IN VARIOUS STYLES. 
HERMITS 



By THOMAS DUDLEY FOSBROKE, M.A. F.A.S. 

HON. ASSOC. R.S.L. &C. LATE VICAR OF WALFORD, HEREFORDSHIRE. 



THIRD EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. 





LONDON : 
M. A. NATTALI, 23, BEDFORD STREET, 

COVENT GARDEN. 



843. 



€•'' 



J%? 



JSFEH 



A 






TO THE RIGHT REVEREND 
THE LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL. &c. &c. 

My Lord, 

The kind and courteous manner in which your 
Lordship has been pleased to accede to my request for permission to 
inscribe the Third Edition of my late Father's Work on British 
Monachism to your Lordship, adds to the many favours already con- 
ferred upon my family, 

I feel assured I could do no greater honour to the memory of 
the Author, nor one more congenial to the sentiments of respect 
which I ever heard him express for your Lordship's public and private 
worth, than by the dedication of his favourite Work to so eminent a 
Scholar and distinguished a Prelate. 

I have the honour to remain, 

My Lord, 

with every respect, 

Your Lordship's most obliged and humble servant, 

YATE FOSBROKE. 

Vicarage House, St. Ives, 
Jan. 23, 1843. 



ADVERTISEMENT 



THIRD EDITION 



The favourable reception of the original edition of this Work 
in two thin 8vo. volumes, 1802, induced the author to revise and 
enlarge his composition, (to form the quarto edition of 18170 under 
the circumstances, and the manner, described in his own Preface, of 
which a copy is annexed. 

It was very gratifying to its x\uthor that this enlarged and im- 
proved edition was respectfully quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in his 
novel of the " Monastery ;" and it was also favourably noticed in the 
" Quarterly Review," and in the other literary journals. The public 
generally having justified this favourable opinion by the work again 
becoming scarce, Mr. Fosbroke was induced shortly before his 
lamented death, to prepare for the press the present Edition, which 
was one- of the latest acts of his laborious literary life. 

This present Edition has been printed in a compressed manner, 
as a companion to the new and improved Edition of Mr. Fosbroke's 
" Encyclopedia of x\ntiquities." 

J. B. N. 



VI 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 



THE first Edition of this Work having been so honoured by the 
public approbation as to be advertised in sale-catalogues at twice 
the original price, Mr. Nichols has much gratified the Author by a 
re-publication very considerably enlarged, enlivened by reflections, 
and elegantly embellished. The original Work was from various 
powerful motives almost wholly limited to Manuscript Authorities. 
But this re-print incorporates the important and copious information 
to be found in the admirable Glossary of Du Cange, various Chro- 
niclers, and other works as unknown as MSS. except to some pro- 
found Literati. Some dissertations upon collateral recondite subjects 
are added. As a new Edition of the Saxon Chronicle has been 
announced, by a competent person, the Emendations of Bishop 
Gibson's Version, which accompanied the first issue of this work, 
are here omitted. 

An accurate estimation of probabilities being a chief ingredient in 
the acquisition of judgment, one intention of the work was to give 
a check to the Morose and Superstitious, to morbid propensities. 
Without liberal and enlarged ideas, virtuous zeal will generate much 
useless pain. The Author however has been misunderstood. Mr. 
Aikin, in compliment to the few original reflections, in the first 
Edition, regrets, that this Archaeological Dissertation did not 
appear in a philosophical form, and that a subject, apparently so 
ample, has been thus compressed. 3 The humble domestic nature 
of the materials could not, the Author thinks, be generalized ac- 
cording to the dignified march of the historical style, without either 
diminution of interest by suppression, or an enormous waste of room 
by a vague periphrastic text, overloaded with long details in notes, 
and extracts and translations of Manuscripts, or by a concentration 
of the whole, which, in the style proposed, the motley form of the 

a Annual Review for 1802. 



PREFACE. Vll 

matter would render turgid and ridiculous. Nor could it be eligible 
to convert the work into a Homily, by superannuated confutations 
of Popery ; or to swell it by stale Philosophical discussions already 
familiarized. 3 As to the compression of it, the general habits and 
duties of all Monks are so analogous, that the distinctions of each 
Order consist only in trifling peculiarities, which do not extend infor- 
mation. The hint, however, of Mr. Aikin is gratefully adopted in 
two new ways, at least suitable to a Divine and an Antiquary. Phi- 
losophy, so far as concerns history, is only a superior knowledge of 
the laws of Providence, in the disposition of those events which do 
not originate in mere physical causes. He professes to illustrate 
mediaeval customs upon mediaeval principles, from a persuasion, that 
contemporary ideas are requisite to the accurate elucidation of his- 
tory. In the Chapter of Love-Pilgrims, a construction is given of 
speaking low, which no penetration could possibly divine. Caution, 
therefore, in the use of reflections, is proper in a work, not profes- 
sedly didactic. 

It has been said, that the Monks have been too unfavourably re- 
presented : but here again the Author is misconstrued. Although 
he is sufficiently vindicated by Dr. Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, 
he begs to observe, that he treats Monks, according to that cha- 
racter, not simply as men ; and that he gives his materials, as he 
finds them. As those which refer to the morals of the Religious 
are the charges of contemporaries, and appear in the solemn statutes 
of General Chapters, he cannot violate the fidelity of an Historian, or 
the integrity of a Protestant Clergyman, by unnecessary, perhaps 
dangerous, and silly palliations of gross inconsistency in Religionists, 
professedly most rigid. It is undoubtedly an original error in all 
censure, that, while mankind are influenced by various causes, it 
condemns from pure abstract reason. If intention be regarded, no 
one is foolish ; and Monachism is wise, if the rationale of it could be 
admitted ; but there is an imbecility as much the effect of aera, 
or circumstances, as of organization and ignorance. Although many 
Monks were truly good Monks, men of high spiritual abstraction, 



a In Mosheim, Zimmerman on Solitude, Edinburgh Review for 1813, p. 186, and for 
1815, p. 302, &c. 



Vlll PREFACE. 

yet their virtue was negative, except in acts of charity ; a although 
many things were only culpable, as deviations from the Order, still it 
ought not to be dogmatized, that the austere Monastic System is 
possible, in an universal view, to be correctly exhibited, in union with 
riches. The liberal ideas of modern Society are not of course in- 
cluded in this question. The Monks were wealthy, consequently 
luxurious, and frequently debauched. The strange means adopted 
(and in the Middle Age forsooth) for creating models of ascetic seve- 
rity were independence, celibacy, and luxury ; but luxury and inde- 
pendence have never had so corrective an operation upon the Bat- 
chelors of any age ; nor will they ever be deemed by political econo- 
mists, the measures suited to produce that bigoted superstition, or 
morbid feeling, which, except tuition from infancy, can alone effect 
the result proposed. The complaint is grounded upon the good cha- 
racters which occasionally appear in the Monastic Annals ; and the 
liberalized, amiable, and benevolent habits of modern Monks, who, 
influenced by a better state of society, substitute these pleasing 
qualities for ancient asperities. This is all in their power. Modern 
thinking only could have emboldened the learned Benedictines of 
St. Maur, to have tried the experiment of commuting certain 
tiresome duties of the Rule, as unworthy the reason of the age 
in which they lived, for learned pursuits, which would enable them 
to issue frequently some valuable publication. fa The dispensation 
was refused, for Popery, afraid of innovation, must of necessity be a 
consistent whole, although it manifestly implies tenacity of obsolete 
barbarism. 

These are objections to be treated with respect by the Author. 
The book is merely professed to be a work, filled to the utmost 
of its dimensions with information, upon the subject of which it 
treats. 

The public having also kindly received the Poems, they are annexed 
for the sake of preservation. 

Waif or d, on the Banks of the Wye, July 17, 1817. 



a See the Chapter of Modern Monachism, p. 298. 

b This anecdote is taken from Disraeli's " Curiosities of Literature." 



CONTENTS. 



Chap. I. Principles of Monachism . 
Chap. II. Asceticks— Glastonbury . 
Chap. III. Monachism among the Britons, 
Scots, Irish, and Anglo-Saxons, till the 
reign of Edgar 
Appendix to Chap. III. — The Egyp- 
tian Rule of Pachomius followed by 
the Britons .... 
Chap. IV. Benedictine Monachism, from the 
reign of Edgar to the Norman Conquest 
Appendix to Chap. IV.— The Rule of 
Fulgentius .... 
Chap. V. Benedictine Monachism, from the 
Norman Conquest to the Dissolution . 
Appendix to Chap V. — Decrees of the 

Council of Lateran, anno 1215 
Constitutions of Benedict the Twelfth, 
anno 1336 .... 
Extracts from Barclay's Ship of Fooles . 
Chap. VI. — Rules of the Orders which ob- 
tained in England 

I. Benedictine Rule 

1. Clugniacs . 

2. Cistercians . 

3. Grandmontines 

4. Carthusians 

II. Three Augustinian Rules : 

1. Prsemonstratensians 

2. Trinitarians 

3. Dominicans 

4. Knights' Hospitallers 

Rules blended, or unconnected with the 
Benedictine and Augustinian : 

1. Knights' Templars . 

2. Gilbertines .... 

3. Carmelites .... 

4. Franciscans 

5. Franciscan Nuns, Minoresses, or 
Nuns of St. Clare . 

6. Brigettine Nuns . 

7. Augustinian Eremites 

8. Nuns of Fontevraud 



13 



23 
28 
37 

39 

59 

60 
62 

65 
66 
68 
69 
70 
71 

72 
73 

74 
75 



76 

77 
78 
ib. 

79 
80 
82 
ib. 



9. Bon Hommes (Augustinians) 
10. Brothers of the Sack 
Chap. VII. Monastic Officers : 

Abbot, Abbess 
Chap. VIII. Obedientiares 
Chap. IX. Prior . 
Chap. X. Cellarer 
Chap. XI. Precentor, or Chantor 
Chap. XII. Kitchener 
Chap. XIII. Seneschall . 
Chap. XIV. Treasurer or Bursar 
Chap. XV. Sacrist or Secretarius 
Chap. XVI. Lecturer 
Chap. XVII. Almoner 
Chap. XVIII. Master of the Novices 
Chap. XIX. Infirmarer 
Chap. XX. Porter 
Chap. XXI. Refectioner . 
Chap. XXII. Hospitaler . 
Chap. XXIII. Chamberlain 
Chap. XXIV. Other Officers of the House 
Chap. XXV. Officers among the Friars 
Chap. XXVI. Nuns' Confessor 
Chap. XXVII. Monks— Nuns, &c. 

Order of St. Victor at Paris 
Chap. XXVIII. Friars 
Chap. XXIX. Novices 
Chap. XXX. Lay Brothers 
Chap. XXXI. Servants 
Chap. XXXII. Monastic Buildings 
Chap. XXXIII. Church— Architecture, &e 



Page 
82 
ib. 



83 
110 
112 
118 
120 
123 
124 
125 
126 
128 
130 
132 
135 
136 
138 
140 
141 
143 
145 
147 
148 
164 
168 
175 
191 
195 
197 
198 



Classification of Churches and Castles : 

British Castles — Anglo-Saxon Castles . 198 
Norman Castles . . .199 

Castellated Mansions . . .201 

British Churches . . .198 

Anglo-Saxon Churches . .199 

Norman Churches . . .201 

Various Peculiarities in Antient Churches ib. 
Altars— ThePix— Pall— Corporal— Perticoe202 
Lecterns — Candlesticks . . 203 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Organ — Piscina — Lockers — Pensile 

Tables— Roodlofts, &c. 
Confessionals — Gallilees — Lady Chapels , 

or Retro-choirs — Cripts 
Tapers— Saints' Bells— Towers— Trifo- 

ria — Pulpits . 
Painted Glass . 
Attributes of the various Saints 
Encaustic Pavements 
Bells . 

The Nuns' Church 
Music— Singing 
Sermons 
Chap. XXXIV. Churchyav 
Chap. XXXV. Refectory 
Chap. XXXVI. Chapter 
Chap. XXXVII. Dormitory 
Chap. XXXVIII. Cloister 
Chap. XXXIX. Infirmary 
Chap. XL. Guest-hall 
Chap. XLI. Locutory, or Parlour . 
Chap. XLII. Almonry 
Chap. XLIII. Library — Museum . 

Remarks on Monastic Literature — Divi- 
nity — Philosophy, Arts, &c . 
Natural History — Medicine — Geography 
— History .... 
Gothic Architecture — Latin Language . 
Classics and Versification 
Works of Humour — Bulls — Acrostics — 

Poetry 
Museum 
Chap. XLIV. Scriptorium — Domus Antiqua- 

riorum 
Chap. XLV. Studies of the Monks 
Chap, XLVI. Prison 
Chap. XLVII. Monastic Courts 
Chap XLVIII. Misericord 
Chap. XLIX. Sanctuary 
Chap. L. Dependant Churches 
Chap. LI. Cells — Granges . 
Chap. LII. Song School . 
Chap. LIII. Common House 
Chap. LIV. Mints — Exchequer 
Chap. LV. Kitchen 
Chap. LVI. Bakehouse 
Chap. LVII. Garden 
Chap. LVIII. Abbey Gate — Dovecote, &c. 



204 

205 

206 
ib. 
207 
208 
209 
ib. 
210 
211 
213 
214 
222 
227 
229 
233 
233 
243 
244 
245 

247 

248 
249 
250 

251 

253 

254 

260 

261 

262 

264 

268 

269 

271 

273 

274 

275 

276 

278 

279 

281 



Page 
Chap. LIX. Sacristy— Vestiary— Costumes 282 
Articles of Clothing belonging to the va- 
rious Orders .... 286 
Augustinian Canons . . . ib. 

Augustinian Eremite Nun . . ib. 

Benedictines . . . . ib. 

Brigettine Nuns and Friers . . 287 

Carmelites .... ib. 

Carmelite Nun . . . . ib. 

Carthusians .... ib. 
Cistercians . . • . ib. 

Cistercian Nuns • • • *&■ 

Clugniacks . . . . ib. 

Dominicans . . . . ib. 

Dominican Nuns . . . 288 

Franciscans or Grey Friers . . ib. 

Franciscan Nun, or Minoress or Poor 

Clare . . . . ib. 

Friars of the Sacks . . . ib. 

Capuchin Nun .... ib. 
Nun of the Order of Penance . . ib. 

Gilbertines . . . . ib. 

Gilbertine Nuns . . .289 

Prsemonstratensians . . . ib. 

Trinitarians '. . . ib. 

Knight Templars . . . ib. 

Knight Hospitallers . . . ib. 

Chap. LX. Specimens of English Ecclesias- 
tical Costume, from the earliest period 
down to the sixteenth century, selected 
from Sculptures, Paintings, and Brasses 
remaining in this Kingdom. Drawn and 
designed by John Carter, F.S.A . . 290 

Chap. LXI. Hospitals . . .297 

Chap. LXII. Modern Monachism . . 298 

Protestant Nunnery at Gedding Parva, 

Huntingdonshire . . . ib. 

Projected Colleges for the education of 

young women . . ib. 

Lady Mary Astell's College . . ib. 

Modern Monks in England . . 299 

Monastery of La Trappe in Lulworth . ib. 
Nuns of Spettisbury . . . 306 

Benedictine Nuns . . . ib. 

-f 

Appendix. Remarks on the Dissolution of 

Monasteries .... 307 

The Benedictine Ceremonial of the 

Nuns of St. Cyr . . . 309 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



Page 
Peregrinatorivm Religiosum ; or Man- 
ners and Customs of Ancient Pilgrims . 313 
Introduction — Costumes of Pilgrims . 315 
Costumes of Crusaders . . 319 

Chap. I. Antiquity of Pilgrimage — British 

Pilgrims . . . . .322 

Chap. II. Pilgrimages of the Scots, Irish, 

and Anglo-Saxons . . .325 

Chap. III. Consecration of Pilgrims . 326 

Chap. IV. Preparatory Steps to the Journey 328 
Chap. V. Manners and Customs on Ship- 
hoard ..... 330 
Chap. VI. Manners and Customs on the 

Journey hy land .... 333 
Chap. VII. The Arrival at Jerusalem — 
Consequences of the Crusades — and Mis- 
cellaneous Observations on Crusaders . 337 
Sir Richard Torkington's account of a 
Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in 1517 . ib. 
Chap. VIII. Return Home — Palmiferi, or 

Palmers ..... 344 
Chap. IX. Pilgrimages of Punishment and 

Penance ..... 346 
Chap. X. Pilgrimages to Rome . . 350 

Chap. XI. Pilgrimages to Compostella . 352 
Chap. XII. Provincial Pilgrimages to Shrines, 

Wells, &c. .... 355 

Chap. XIII. Mourning Pilgrimages — Incog- 



Page 
nito Pilgrimages — Political Pilgrimages — 
Pilgrims Adventurers ■ — Pilgrims against 
Heretics ..... 361 
Chap. XIV. Love Pilgrims . . 363 

Chap. XV. The Office of Pilgrims in the 
Church of Rouen . . .369 



ConsuetuJinal of Anchorets and Hermits 
Hermits ..... 
Hermitages .... 

Continentes — Vows of Chastity 

Select Poems (in various styles) by 
Mr. Fosbroke : 

1. Economy of Monastic Life, in the man- 
ner of Spenser .... 

2. Triumph of Vengeance ; an Ode, in the 
manner of Gray .... 

3. The Red Man; or, the Address" of Buo- 
naparte's familiar Damon ;en Ode, in the 
manner of Gray and Collins 

4. The last Fifty Years ; a Parody on Col- 
lins's Ode to the Passions 

5. On a Lady Bathing, in the manner of 
The Italian Concetto 

6. Epitaph on Charles Hayward, Esq. in 
the German manner 

General Index .... 



370 
379 
381 

383 



389 



410 



414 



41' 



420 



421 
423 



LIST OF PLATES. 



Portrait of the Author .... Frontispiece. 

Engraved Title-page. 

Forms of British and Anglo-Saxon Churches 
Costumes of Monks and Nuns 

Veil and Wimple, and Hermit's Dress (on the letter press) 
Habits of Religious, drawn from existing Specimens, by John 
Carter, F.S.A. : 

Class I. . 

Class II. 

Class III. 

Class IV. 

Class V. 

Class VI. 

Class VII. 
Habits of the Monks of La Trappe, at Lulworth 
Pilgrims . . . . -. 



Page 



198 
282 
284 



291 
%b. 
292 
ib. 
293 
294 
295 
306 
321 



MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 



The Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke, M.A., F.S.A , Honorary Associate of 
the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Member of the Bristol Philosophical 
Institution, &c. was descended from a respectable family first settled at Fos- 
broke, in Staffordshire. a Of his more immediate ancestors many were clergy- 
men, it having been a custom of the family for several generations to have one 
of the sons educated for the Church. The great-grandfather of the late Mr. 
Fosbroke was the Rev. William Fosbroke, vicar of Diddlebury and rector 
of Aston Scott, both in Shropshire. He was imprisoned in Hereford Gaol for 
praying for the King, during the Commonwealth ascendancy, and otherwise 
injured in estate. His grandfather, Thomas, seems to have squandered the 
family estates at Diddlebury, which had been in the family at least 200 years. His 
father, William, was, agreeably to the family custom, educated for holy orders, 
but migrated to London. By his second wife, Hester, daughter of Thomas 
Lashbroke, of South wark, he had an only son, the subject of this memoir. 

He was born May 27, 1770; and was named Dudley, after a cousin, a squire 
of Lebotwood Hall, Shropshire. He lost his father in 1775, and his mother 
married a second husband, James Holmes, Esq. Ensign in the Coldstream 
Guards, and afterwards Adjutant of the West Essex Militia. His mother lived 
to an extreme old age, and died at Walford, in 1831. Her great-grandmother, 
Mrs. Dodgson, was cousin to Thomas Guy, Esq. the founder of the Hospital in 
Southwark. 

Mr. Fosbroke was educated under the Rev. Mr. Milward, of Billericay, in 
Essex, and at Petersfield, in Hampshire, until he was nine years old, and was 
then removed to St. Paul's school, London, under the care of Dr. Roberts, from 
whence he was elected, in 1785, to a Teasdale Scholarship at Pembroke College, 
Oxford, where he proceeded B.A. 178—, M.A. 1792. It had been suggested, 
that he was to be a Special Pleader, but it was his father's dying wish that he 
should be placed in the Church. 



a Mr. Fosbroke has given accounts of his own family, in his " History of Gloucestershire," i. 407 ; 
in " Ariconensia," p. 168 ; and in his Autobiographical Sketch, prefixed to the quarto edition of his 
*' Encyclopaedia of Antiquities." A more enlarged and elaborate history of the early branches of the 
Fosbroke family, is appended to the present pages, from an original MS. which he left in the hands of a 
friend. 

b 



10 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 

In 1 792 he was ordained Deacon, upon the title of his scholarship ; and 
settled in the curacy of Horsley, co. Gloucester, for which he was ordained 
priest in 1794, and he held that curacy till 1810. 

In 1796 Mr. Fosbroke published the " Economy of Monastic Life/' a poem 
in Spenserian measure and style, written upon the doctrine of Darwin, of using 
only precise ideas of picturesque effect, chiefly founded upon the sense of vision. 
The poem is again reprinted in this volume. 

In 1799 he was elected F.S.A. He then devoted himself to archaeology 
(including the Saxon language), and studied eight or nine hours a day. Deter- 
mined to publish only records, MSS. or other matters new to the public, he 
compiled his " British Monachism," from the rich stores of the British Mu- 
seum and the Bodleian Library, in two vols. 8vo. 

All the reviewers were flattering; and, the work soon becoming scarce, the 
author published a second edition in 1817 5 in a handsome quarto volume, much 
enlarged, and enlivened by reflections. The original work was almost wholly 
limited to MS. authorities ; but the reprint incorporated the important informa- 
tion in the Glossary of Du Cange, various Chronicles, and other authorities. 
This work was respectfully quoted by Sir Walter Scott, in his novel of the 
" Monastery," and was favourably noticed in the " Quarterly Review." A 
third edition of this valuable work is now presented to the public. 

He next engaged in an original History of the County of Gloucester. Being 
possessed of a copy of the Inquisitiones post Mortem completed to the reign of 
Richard III. he was enabled sooner to perfect his collections from the public 
offices and libraries ; and the work was published by subscription, under the 
title of "Abstracts of Records and Manuscripts respecting the County of Glou- 
cester; formed into a History^ correcting the very erroneous Accounts, and 
supplying the numerous Deficiencies, in Sir Robert Atkins and subsequent 
Writers," 2 vols. 4to. 1807. 

On finishing his County History, he engaged with Sir Richard Phillips in an 
Encyclopedia of Antiquities ; but the work was never published, owing to the 
failure of that bookseller in 1810. 

At this time Mr. Fosbroke removed from Horsley to Walford on the banks of 
the Wye. Soon afterwards he had the honour of illustrating the unpublished 
statues in Mr. Hope's collection. 

In 1814 he published an "Abridgment of Whitby's Commentary on the New 
Testament," for which he received the unrestricted praise of Dr. Napleton, Chan- 
cellor of Hereford, and other dignitaries. 

In 1819 he published "An original History of the City of Gloucester, almost 
wholly compiled from new materials ; supplying the numerous Deficiencies, and 
correcting the Errors, of preceding Accounts ; including the Original Papers of 
the late Ralph Bigland, Esq. Garter Principal King at Arms." On this work 



MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 11 

Mr. Fosbroke was engaged by Messrs. Nichols, as a continuation of Mr. Bigland's 
work; but, by compressing Mr. Bigland's numerous but uninteresting lists of 
epitaphs, and supplying a large mass of the latent materials concerning the city, 
and by a judicious arrangement of the whole, he produced a work highly credit- 
able to his taste, and, what used to be unfrequent in topographies, of a readable 
nature throughout. 

Mr. Fosbroke published at least three editions of a pleasing little work, under 
the title of " The Wye Tour ; or, Gilpin on the Wye, with picturesque additions 
from Wheateley, Price, &c. and Archaeological Illustrations/' 

Asa companion to this Tour, in 1821 he produced " Ariconensia ; or, Archae- 
ological Sketches of Ross and Archenfield: illustrative of the campaigns of 
Caractacus ; the Station Ariconium, &c. and other matters never before pub- 
lished." 

In 1821 Mr. Fosbroke edited the "Berkeley Manuscripts: Abstracts and 
Extracts of Smyth's Lives of the Berkeleys, illustrative of Ancient Manners 
and the Constitution, including all the Pedigrees in that ancient Manuscript. To 
which are annexed, a copious History of the Castle and Parish of Berkeley, con- 
sisting of matter never before published ; and Biographical Anecdotes of Dr. 
Jenner, his Interviews with the Emperor of Russia," &c. 4to. Much use of 
Smyth's MSS. had been made by Mr. Fosbroke in his " History of Gloucester- 
shire," where that collector's accounts of property were incorporated. In the 
present work, the principle upon which the selections were formed are, that of 
preserving every thing of a constitutional, topographical, archaeological, or genea- 
logical bearing. The Biography of Dr. Jenner was at the time novel, and 
written with a friendly and judicious hand. 

Mr. Fosbroke's " Grammar of Rhetorick " was surreptitiously published, 
without acknowledgment, in Pinnock and Maunder's Catechisms. 

In 1824 Mr. Fosbroke published his largest and most important work, the 
(i Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, and Elements of Archaeology," in two vols. 4to. 
This work was most favourably received by his subscribers, and the public in 
general, as it supplied a deficiency then much wanted by all aspirants in the 
study of archaeology. A second edition, with improvements, appeared in one 
very large volume in 1840. 

It was followed, in 1828, by a uniform volume, entitled " Foreign Topogra- 
phy ; or, an Encyclopediack Account, alphabetically arranged, of the ancient 
Remains in Africa, Asia, and Europe ; forming a Sequel to the Encyclopaedia of 
Antiquities," 4to. and abounding with a large mass of latent, curious, and 
instructive information. 

In 1826 he published, "A Picturesque and Topographical Account of Chel- 
tenham and its Vicinity. To which is added, Contributions towards the Medical 

b2 



12 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 

Topography, including the Medical History of the Waters, by [his son Dr.] 
John Fosbroke." The object of this work was to give some literary character 
to the account of Cheltenham, by treating the subject according to the rules of 
great authorities in scenery and archaeology. 

In the same year he produced, " The Tourist's Grammar ; or Rules relating to 
the Scenery and Antiquities incident to Travellers; compiled from the first 
authorities, and including an Epitome of Gilpin's Principles of the Picturesque/' 
12mo, in which the knowledge requisite to form a correct taste upon the subject 
is brought into a cheap and accessible form. At this time, also, he was solicited 
by the Duke of Newcastle, to give his assistance in elucidating some difficulties 
in the Saxon line of his Grace's pedigree ; and with extraordinary perseverance 
he collected sufficient matter from various sources to supply a continuous bio- 
graphy of the very ancient noble family of the Clintons, filling three large folio 
volumes of MS. which are now in the possession of his Grace, and highly valued 
by him. 

In 1827 Mr. Fosbroke had the gratification of being elected an Honorary 
Associate of the Royal Society of Literature. He contributed to their Transac- 
tions, " Extracts from MSS. relative to English History," (vol. i. p. 36,) and 
" Illustrations of the Constitution of our ancient Parliaments." (vol. ii. 268.) 

A similar acknowledgment of the literary merits of this distinguished Author 
was paid him by the Bristol Literary and Philosophical Society, who elected 
him an honorary member of their institution, and communicated the honour 
conferred upon him in terms expressive of their admiration of his talents and 
services in the cause of literature. 

In 1830 Mr. Fosbroke was presented to the vicarage of Walford (where he 
had been twenty years curate) by the Rev. Thomas Huntingford, precentor of 
Hereford Cathedral, and nephew of the late very learned and amiable Bishop of 
Hereford. To this vicarage is annexed the parochial chapelry of Ruardean, co. 
Gloucester, of which place Mr. Fosbroke communicated an account to the Gen- 
tleman's Magazine in June 1831, p. 488. 

Mr. Fosbroke was for several years intimately connected with the Gentleman's 
Magazine, and contributed largely to its review department; in which office he 
always acted towards authors with a fair and liberal spirit. His notices were full 
of original observations. The connection terminated a few years before the 
commencement of the present series of that Miscellany in 1834. 

He had latterly with great labour prepared for the press a new work, as a 
companion to his Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, under the title of a " New and 
original Synopsis of ancient English Manners, Customs, and Opinions, derived 
from old Chronicles, local Histories, and other authentic Documents." This 
may hereafter be published. 

Mr. Fosbroke was highly distinguished as a Freemason, and had the honour 



MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 



13 



of being appointed in three successive years Chaplain of the Provincial Grand 
Lodges of Hereford, Monmouth, and Gloucester. The MSS. of several sermons, 
illustrative of the ancient History, Arcana, and objects of Freemasonry, 
preached before these Lodges, are now in the possession of his widow, and will 
probably be published at some future period. 

In 1796 he was married to Miss Howell, of Horsley, and had issue by her 
four sons and six daughters, of whom seven are now living. His eldest son, 
John, is a doctor of medicine, and author of several works and essays on pro- 
fessional subjects. His second son, Yate, is a clergyman, and vicar of St. Ive's, 
in the county of Huntingdon. His third son, Thomas Dudley, is First Lieut, in 
the Royal Marine Corps, whose commission was presented to him by Sir James 
Graham, (at that time First Lord of the Admiralty,) through the recommenda- 
tion of the Duke of Newcastle, as a mark of his Grace's favour and esteem for 
his father. His fourth son, Wm. Michael Malbon, is now a doctor of medicine 
of the University of Edinburgh. Of his three surviving daughters one only is 
married, Hester Elizabeth, to Charles Ransford Court, esq. of Wrington, in the 
county of Somerset. 

A portrait of Mr. Fosbroke, " setat. 46/' was prefixed to the Encyclopaedia of 
Antiquities, and is also given in this volume. 

This distinguished antiquary and archeeologist died at his vicarage at Walford, 
Herefordshire, on the 1st of January, 1842, in the 72d year of his age. 

J. B. N. 




14 



MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 

BY THE REV. T. D. FOSBROKE. 



Fortunately for me, I am able to vindicate the pretensions of my Family 
(for whom I entertain all the pieties of nature) upon the best legal evidence, 
and in so doing to add some illustrations of archaeological interest, which may 
be deducible from even dry records and pedigrees. 

Camden says, b of local surnames, that the bearers of them " may assure them- 
selves that they originally came from [such places] or were born at them." 
There is a place still called Fosbrooke in Staffordshire, and, so recently at least as 
the year of the treaty of Amiens, there were persons resident at it, and named 
from it. Of the place and them no more is known to me, nor is it to my purpose. 
It is sufficient to say, that in the Roll of the Chancery, or Antigraph of the Pipe- 
roll of the 3d of John (anno 1201), under " Staffordsh/'§ De placitis forest e 
is an item, "De viii s. de Rad de Dulvne et Osftro de Focebroc/ ,c The general 
opinion is, that the severity of the forest laws originated in preservation of the 
game ; and, under that presumption, the above fine might have been levied for 
poaching. But antiquaries know that forests were existent among the Britons 
upon military principles ; and that so indifferent were the people to conscien- 
tious ideas about the game, that this indifference founded the archaism, still 
prevalent, that, as the animals were ferce natures, poaching violated no law of 
property ; nor was the game the first object of the Norman King, and his suc- 
cessors, further than as prevention of poaching impeded trespass. The inten- 
tion of William the Conqueror was to make the New Forest a convenience for 
landing troops from Normandy ; and, besides the amusement of hunting, such a 
large income was derived from the Royal woods, that they were objects of the 
first moment to the then Chancellors of the Exchequer. So minute were the 
regulations, that mere "coppices were reserved for the fencinge and incloseinge 
of newe woods to be raised, that the number of trees sould might be trebled by 
plantinge." d For what kind of offence, therefore, the said Osbert was fined, is 
not apparent ; nor are all similar delinquents in the Pipe Rolls to be deemed 
offenders against the vert and venison. It is presumptive that he was of Anglo- 
ticall brightnesse, or light of the family/' occurs in Asser Menevensis; f and the 



b Remaines, 125, ed. 6th. 

c Rot. Cane. 3 Joh. p. 49, published by the Record Commission, 8vo. 1833. 

d Lodge's Life of Sir Jul. Csesar, 23—25. e Remaines, 82. ( Camd. Scriptor. p. 5. 



MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 15 

name of Walter de Focebroc, brother of Osbert, is also a derivative from the 
German Waldher. Who and what they were does not appear, further than that 
they were members of the establishment of William Basset; for, in a benefac- 
tion charter of his to the Priory of Roucester, occur among the attestators, 
a Osberto de Fotesbroc, Johanne fratre ejus, Waltero fratre ejus." This charter, 
as published by Dugdale,s shows, among other instances, the inaccuracy of his 
scribes ; for Wodeford, the benefaction, is labelled WoZ/eford ; nor can there be 
a doubt but that the Focebroc of the Pipe Roll was the Fo/esbroc of the charter. 
John being the favourite Christian name of my ancestors, it seems most probable 
that we are descended from this John, brother of Osbert, and the continuation of 
that name in his issue implies that the parents wished him to be imitated by his 
posterity. 11 

The Basset Northamptonshire estates descended to the Staffords, and when 
our pedigree commences regularly in 1392, the family are found to be feudato- 
ries of those hereditary representatives of the Bassets. As all such feudatories 
or connectives did, they bore, of course, when occasion required, the badge or 
cognizance of the chief Lord. With us it was the Stafford Knot, and accord- 
ingly I have placed it above the shield of our arms, or used it singly. 

How many generations passed with the preenomen John from the first men- 
tioned John I do not know, and it is evident that, whatever may have been their 
private worth, they could not have had any historical or biographical conse- 
quence. In an Inquisition taken upon the decease of Thomas Earl of Stafford 
in 1392 (16 Ric. II.) Richard Clowne and John Fossebrok are found to hold of 
him two knights' fees in Barton Segrave, Raundes, and Cranford, co. Northamp- 
ton. Of course the tenure shows, that this Richard and John were subject to 
military service, as Esquires. This John presented to the living of Cranford in 
1391, as did Margaret his widow in 1403J A Clause-roll k which records a quit- 
claim from John Towers of the purchase made from Richard Clowne and Agnes 
his mother, shows a curious instance of the caution used in identifying persons. 
It is made to John Fossebroke, who succeeded another John, and the son 
and father are thus distinguished : a Jones Fossebroke, pater pdci Johis fiT 
Jofris." This John the son was presumptively an able man of business- 
character, for in 1399, as a trustee of the Holt family, he presented with 
others a John Depyng to the living of Whilton, co. Northampton. 1 If, as Ed- 
mondson says, in his Dictionary of Arms, the name of Fosbroke was aliased 
Fo/broke, there is in the Agincourt Roll, among the retinue of Sir de Harington, 
a John Fo/broke, Lance, as one of those who were present at the battle,* 11 and, as 



* Monast. ii. 269, ed. 1st. h Camd. Rernaines, 53. 

i Bridges's Northamptonshire, ii. 227, * 14 Hen. IV. m. 10 dors. (Feb. 20, 1412.) 

1 Baker's Northamptonshire, i. 234. m Sir Harris Nicolas's Agincourt, p. 21 



16 MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 

the same arms were borne by both names, the mere variation of the letter I for s 
cannot destroy the identity of family. Such was the unsettled state of sur- 
names, that a testator, in his will, dated Nov. 6, 1336, says, that he was some- 
times called Russel from his complexion, or De la Clive from the place of his 
birth. n This John Fosbroke died Oct. 7th, 1418, and his effigies, from a brass 
plate in the chancel of Cranford Church, is engraved in the " Encyclopedia of 
Antiquities/' sect. Monumental Effigies, Fig. 11. 

He married Matilda, a lady of the noble house of Stafford; she survived her 
husband many years, and when a widow was dry-nurse to King Henry the 
Sixth, it being the strict etiquette antiently for royal infants to have a nobly de- 
scended nurse. Her stipend was £\0 per annum, "for decent support of her- 
self about the royal person " [pro ipsa circa personam nostram honeste sustent- 
anda.] Of this sum she complained as insufficient, and it was accordingly 
doubled 6 Hen. VI.P Seventeen years [anno 1444] afterwards, when she is 
styled in the writ "quondam sicca nutrici nostra" 1 she had a grant for life of a 
dolium r of red wine of Gascony per annum. The same formula of wine (com- 
muted for money) was recently, perhaps now, usual in the royal household ; and 
Mr. George Ellis says of this kind of donation, a In the reign of Edward the 
Third the value of the mark in our present money may be estimated at £10, and 
Chaucer's original annuity at £200. The grant of wine was of the same value, 
because it was afterwards exchanged for an annuity of 20 marks." s Her will, 
dated Dec. 21, 144 *J, and proved 27 Feb. following, is still preserved at Doctors* 
Commons.* Some things are noticeable. She leaves to Ann, wife of her son 
Gerard, among other articles, " unam zonam de serico stripat' argent' et 
deaurat', et unum primarium " [i. e. a girdle of silk striped with silver gilt, and 
a primer]. It is singular, that this word primarium does not occur in Ducange, 
Charpentier, or Lyndwood, nor primer in Tyrwhitt, Cotgrave, or any English 
Glossary known to me. But as ladies, in subsequent ages, carried prayer-books 
pendant from their girdles, u I think that some liturgical book, perhaps a collec- 
tion of psalms, was here meant, not a school primer in the modern sense. In 
the legacies to her grandchildren John and Elizabeth, she limits the benefit of 
survivorship to below the age of eighteen. x Then follows this clause, " Item, 
lego et volo cjjd pdca Alic' filia pdc J Gerardi habeat unum par lintheam' et pro 
nutricione sua qualibet septimana per unum annum ixd. et post ilium annum 

n Owen, &c. Shrewsb. i. 540. ° Percy Anecdotes, part iv. p. 8. 

p Pat. 6 Hen. VI. pars i. m. 15. in Rymer's unpublished Collections, entitled, " Capitula Actorum," 
MS. B. Mus. (Ayscougb's Catal.) 4605, fol. 6. i Claus. 23 Hen. VI. m. 17. 

r In Charpentier Dolium is rendered by cupa major, lacus vinarius. In Seyer's Bristol, ii. 152, the 
word was applied to shipping, as of 100 tons, in Latin rendered dolin. 

8 Ellis's Old Poets, i. 204. * In libr. vocat. Llufnam, f. 34. • u See Prayer-book, c. ix. 

x Ses Cowel, v. Age, and Ducange, v. JEtas, et auctor. ibi citat. 



MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. tj 

habeat qualibet septimana p unum quarterium anni vid. Item, lego eid Alic ad 
inveniend sibi vestimenta et alia necesaria sibi opportuna xxs." The said Alice 
was to have for board and nursing 9c?. a week for one year, and 6d. a week for the 
next quarter. The testatrix died in 1447, and was buried at Cranford with her 
husband. A brass plate with the figures of both was placed over the slab, and 
had the following inscription : " Hie jacet Jones Fossebrok, armig, qui obiit vii 
die mensis Octobris, anno Drii Miftmo ccccxviii. et Matilda uxor ejus, quae fuit 
sicca nutrix Dfio Regi Henric (sic) Sexti. Quorum aiabus propitietur Deus. 
Amen." J 

The figure of Ankaret, wife of Thomas Talbot, Esq. who died in 1436, is in 
similar costume. 2 Malliot makes it a frequent practice for females to be repre- 
sented on their tombs attired as religieuses, possibly from some superstition, like 
as the interment of men in monks' cowls, and it seems likely that widows, who, 
as was common, had taken a vow of chastity, never to marry again, were desig- 
nated by this surplice-formed robe. [See figure of Matilda, in Plate of English 
Costume, in " Encyclopedia of Antiquities," fig. 13.] 

She left a son named Gerard in her will, whereas, in certain old pedigrees a 
he is styled Edward or Gerrard. How this prsenomen occurs once, and 
once only in our family, may be thus explained. It was not unprecedented, 
for the feudal commanders of military companies, or their ladies, to become 
sponsors for the children of their retainers, b and this name of Gerard seems to 
have been derived from Sir Gerard Ufflete. In the Chapter House, Westmin- 
ster, is preserved a presumed Muster Roll of the Agincourt Army, previous to 
embarkation. That able antiquary and genealogist Mr. Stacey Grimaldi, F.A.S. 
has kindly communicated the following extract : " Under the command of Sir 
Gerard Ufflete, chr, are Lionell fra?ejus, Nich'us Fossebroke, Johes Harford, and 
sixteen others, all Lances, i. e. Esquires." What relative this Nicholas was to 
John, father of Gerrard, I know not, only that Mr. Stacey Grimaldi says, " that 
in the Roll the companies of troops are arranged under the leaders' names, such 
leader being presumed to be the great man of the district whence these young 
knights, squires, and men, came/ 5 

" This Gerrard c married Anne by whom he had issue John, of 

Cranford, whose wife was Dorothy daughter of Robert Drewell, of Little Ged- 
ding, co. Huntingdon.e This was an ancient family, for a John Druell was 
sheriff of Northamptonshire, 18 Ed. I. [a 1290.] 5,f 

r Bridges's Northamptonshire, ii. 228. z Eograved in Owen and Blakeway's Shrewsbury, ii. 287. 

a Visitat. of Northamptonshire for 1566, in the Coll. of Arms, p. 39. MS. Harl. 1467, fol. 27 b. and 
1553, f. 38. b See Rot. Pari. ii. 292. 

c Visitat. of Northamptonshire, in the Coll. of Arms, for 1566, p. 39. 

d Will of Matilda Fosbroke, ubi supr. e MSS. Harl. 1467, f. 27 b. ; 1553, fol. 38, 

f MS. Harl. 5171, f. 22. 



18 MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 

As if some superstitious charm, or rather an advertisement of good descent, 
attached to the christian name of John in the family, a practice which still 
subsists in the perpetual preenomina annexed to members of certain high 
families, Robert the son of the last John was aliased with a John by the Har- 
leian Pedigrees and Bridges. There happens to be in the Records s a pedigree 
from this Robert down to John his grandson, and it states that a marriage set- 
tlement was made upon an Elena Doveton [not Boveton, as the pedigrees] 
upon her marriage with Robert. This Robert died in 1518, having had issue 
by Elena a John, who died s. p. ; a Robert, brother and heir ; a Richard, and 
others. h Elena survived her husband, as she did a second one named Ashton, 
and was living when her daughter-in-law Juliana, the wife of her son Richard 
(who died 7th Aug. 1541) became a widow also. 1 This appears by the will of 
Richard, which is to be found in the Inquisition taken at his decease, 33 
Hen. VIII. (1541). Juliana, the widow of Richard (and misnomered Judith in 
an Harleian MS.), k was the daughter of William Kynnesman of Lodington, co. 
Northampton, by Joyce, daughter of Thomas Stokes of Stoke, 1 co. Warwick, her 
grandmother being Isabella daughter of Fasakerley of Warrington, co. Northamp- 
ton. Her son and heir John, who was 16 years old at the time of his father 
Richard's decease, 111 married two wives, and by Dorothy the first wife had a second 
son Richard, n who settled at Diddlebury, co. Salop, in 1584, his father John being 
then alive. In their time a circumstance happened, which evinces the oppres- 
sive operation of Extents of the Crown. The proceedings in Chancery in the 
Tower of London [Ff. 8, N° 27], show that 4th January, 1583, William Fos- 
broke of Cranford, co. Northampton, complains, that he bought of Richard 
Gray, son of Peter Gray, Receiver General of Her Majesty's Revenues, sundry 
cattle, which after he had so done were seized by the crown, the said Peter 
Gray having been greatly in her Majesty's debt. With this Richard, the son, 



e Liberat. Dom. Cap. Westm. v. iii. p. 158. 

h Inq. p. ra. 10 H. VIII. 5 Id. 33 Hen. VIII. k No. 1187, f. 53. 

1 Of which very ancient family, see Dugd. Warw. p. 130, ed. 1st. 

ra Index Hered. Nobil Famil. MS. Cott. Claud. C. vin. 

n MSS. Harl. 1467, 1553. This John Fosbroke died in 1602, about the age of 80, and upon a brass 
plate in the church of Cranford, embellished with his figure between his two wives, is the following 
epitaph : " Here lyeth John Fosbroke, Esq. who departed this life the 12th of March anno 1602, about 
the age of 80, who buried before him two wives ; by the first he had issue 4 sonnes and 4 daughters ; 
and the last, whos name was Awdre, [daughter of Robert Lenton, of Woodford, co. Northampton. 
Harl. MSS. ubi supra.] died in anno 1589, having issue by him four sonnes [John, Parson of Cranford, 
inter alios. Harl. MSS.] and 12 daughters, being in her life-time bountiful to the poore, and esteminge 
no time well spent, wherein she did not some good either to poore or rich. He saw issue of his children 
by both his wives above 70 grand-children ; to 18 of his children he gave portions, and relieved his 
grand-children. Yet he was zealous of God's glorye, loved the saints, relieved the poore, and defended 
the helples, and hath laid up in store a sure foundation in Heaven." — Copy made by the Rev. B. 
Hutchinson, Rector of Cranford, May 1820. 



MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 19 

terminated our connection with the parent Northamptonshire line, which is now 
represented by the Fosbrookes of Ravenstone Hall, co. Derby. 

" Stemmata quid faciunt ?" 

One answer is the law of primogeniture, entails, and a soubriquet. A noble- 
man of the sister island having had many poor relations, it has become prover- 
bial to designate generically these mourners by that Peer^s title, so that if poor 
relations have no legacies in a will, it is said that Lord ***** gets nothing. 
Money however among our ancestors was not so omnipotent as now; and the 
law of hereditary succession did not always supersede superior qualifications in 
younger brothers. Instances are known in our early reigns [as that of Edw. I. 
See Trans, R. Soc. Literat. v. i. p. ii. art. iv.] where the King has transferred 
the descent of a peerage from a senior to a junior son, upon the account alle- 
gated ; and a Lady, writing about a proposed marriage, says, a remembring the 
wisdome of my seid Lady, and the good wise stok of the Grenes, whereof she is 
comen, and also of the wise stok of the Parrs of Kendal/'P The married 
couples were also expected to be sized like soldiers ; for Sir William Cecil says 
in a letter (Ellis, ii. 299, 2d ser.), i( Here is an unhappy chance and monstruous. 
The Serjeant Porter, being the biggest gentleman in this Court, hath married 
secretly the Lady Mary Grey, the lest of all the court/ 5 and they were impri- 
soned in consequence. 

Blumenbach says, that the qualities of the mind are hereditary : so too our 
ancestors thought, and there is reason for it ; because if the mere bodily consti- 
tution of our parents decided our characters, then, Old Parr with his longevity 
would be superior to Alfred with his wisdom, and duration be superior to con- 
struction. I therefore hope that I do not philosophically err, if I think well of 
the intellect of these Northamptonshire Fosbrokes, because two authors are 
found among them of meritorious pretensions.^ 

The aforesaid John Fosbroke, Esq. had by his first wife " four sons and four 
daughters ; and by his second wife four sons and twelve daughters, making in 
the whole twenty-four children. He lived till about 80, buried both his wives, 
and saw issue by their children above seventy grandchildren. To eighteen of his 
children he gave portions, and relieved his grandchildren." 

How John Fosbroke, Esquire, the last of my ancestors bearing that title, 
contrived to portion seventeen children, and relieve above seventy grandchildren, 
without depriving the eldest of the manor, advowson, and estate, is a subject 



o Burke's Commoners, ii. 626, where is an account of them. p Whitaker's Richmondshire, i. 387. 

i Sermons "by John Fosbroke, B.D. late of Sidney College, Cambridge, Rector of Cranford, co. 
Northamp. 4to. Cambr. 1633. A Nathaniel Fosbrooke published, in 1605, " Falshood in Friendship, 
or Union's Vizard, or Wolves in Lambskins, &c. &c." See Harleian Miscellany, x. 445. See more of 
his books in Moule's Bibliotheca Heraldica, p. 70. 



20 MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 

which presents an opportunity of elucidating the habits of our forefathers in 
regard to their younger children. Shakspere, in his " As You Like It/' has, 
under the character of Orlando, made actual representations of the painful 
situations of such post-opulent members of a family; and Mr. Douce has 
produced instances where they were made menials, and wore the livery of the 
elder brother. Any other mode of provision for them was in fact promotion 
above a servile condition. The clown in King Lear (A. iii. sc. 3), among some 
prophecies in doggrels, has " No Squire in debt, and no poor knight ?' and, 
to show the needy state of country gentlemen, there is a book, " The 
Mystery and Misery of lending and borrowing," which contains an illustra- 
tration of the Fool's sarcasm. 1 " 

Sir Robert Naunton s says, that the ancient mode of providing for younger 
children was to send them to the City to learn trade ; and this was done with my 
ancestor, who migrated into Shropshire, where others of his family were also 
settled ;* and, so far from professions being preferred to trades, Lord Shaftes- 
bury u mentions a Lady who was going over to Holland, " to settle her son at 
some school, where he may be best taught the languages and rudiments of 
a trade ; for, though as the eldest child he will be entitled to a moderate estate, 
yet it being not such as to maintain him properly in the rank of gentry, she 
prudently resolves to bring him to business, for, if he gains little by it, he may at 
least learn industry, avoid idleness, acquire a good habit of frugality, and learn to 
improve what he has of his own." I omit Fortescue's well-known account of sons 
being sent to the Inns of Court. 

Thus does it appear that, in conformity to the passage quoted from Whitaker, 
our ancestors took great pains to make their children wise. 

As to daughters, Sir William Dugdale x sent one of his to be a lady's 
maid, and yet he was a country gentleman of independent fortune. My great- 
grandfather portioned his girls off in the following manner. Being an Incum- 



r Reprinted in the Gentleman's Magazine, June 1829, p. 595. 

s Fragm. p. 104. 

1 In two Liberationes in the Chapter House (Pars xiii. 463, 3 Jac I. and Pars xviii. 18 Jac. I. p. 41 1) 

are two writs of livery of an estate belonging to the Fosbrookes at Ticklarton in Eaton, co. Salop, to the 

last of which is annexed the following pedigree : 

William Fosbrooke.=^=Anne, ob. May 12, 3 Jac. I. [1605]. 

I 

Thomas Fosbrooke, ob. 7 Sept. 16 Jac. I.=pAnne, dau. of Edward Blackwey ; mar. 
[anno 1618], set. 30 3 Jac. I. | June, 39 Eliz. [1596]. 

I ' 

Francis, aged 20 16 Jac. I. [anno 1618]. 

Q ? if from this family of Blakeway the late learned and ingenious historian of Shrewsbury was 

descended. 

u Letters of Locke, &c. 256. x Hamper's Life of Dugdale, 226, 228. 



MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE 



21 



bent of two livings, he says in his will, " as to my whole parsonage of Acton 
Scott, together with all the goods and cattle thereupon, I have long since 
bestowed them upon Mr. Richard Baldwyn, as a portion with my said daughter 
Sarah, upon which parsonage (paying taxes, curate/ and repairs), he is to 
continue until such time as a portion equivalent to what he deserves be raised 
out of it;* 2 

The pedigree in Burke's Commoners, concerning the Fosbrokes of Cranford, 
being very meagre, I shall give the remainder so far as it appears in the Har- 
leian MSS. a 



Dorothy, dau. of Rob ert=f= John Fosbroke, Esq.=^=Audrey, dau. of Robert Lenton of 



Drewell, of Little Ged- 
ding, co. Huntingdon ; 
1st wife. 



ob. Mar. 12, 1602. 



William ,=y= Agnes, dau. 

eldest and coh. 

son and of Rob. 

heir. Wolston, of 

Burton, co. 
Northamp- 
ton. 



n r-r— i 

Richard, of Margaret. 



Didle- 
bury ; 
of whom 
postea. 
Ralph, mar. 
.... dau. 
of Benja- 
min Cow- 
dry. 



Bridget, 
mar.John 
Paget, of 
Walde- 
grave. 

Catharine. 



r~l — 
Eliza- 
beth. 
Osith. 



Woodford, co. Northampton, ob. 
1589 ; 2d wife. 



i -r—| 

1st w. Su-^John, = T=2d w. Jane, Sarah. 



san, dau. 
of Geo. 
Lynn, of 
South- 
wike, co. 
Westmor- 
land. 



Par- 
son 

of 

Cran- 
ford. 



John, of Cranford.^Margaret, one of the nine 



son and heir ; he 
presented to the 
living in 1641. 



daughters of Geo. Lynne, 
of Southwicke, by Isabel, 
dau. of Miles Frost. 



I I I 

William, 

s. p. 
Robert, 

s. p. 
Thomas, 

ob. at 

London. 



T~l 



dau. of Ann, mar. 

Rev. Wm. Edw. Top- 
sell, orTap- 



Pelshant 
of Market 
Bosworth, 
co. Leic. 



hall, Curate 
of St. Bo- 
tolph's, Al- 
der sgate, 
both bur. 
there. 



Margaret, mar. 
to Rob. Monk, 
of Thatcham, 
co. Sussex. 6 

Mary. 



Lydia, ob. inf. 
Margaret, mar. 
to Francis 
Barret, of 
Spatwicke, co. 
Northampton. 



~T ) I » 

William. 

John. 

Eusebius. 

Ann. 



i r 1 1 r r~ 

John. Francis, Henry, 15 years Maud. Catharine. Martha. 
s. p. old in 1618. 



— I 1 1 

Mary. Lucy. Sarah. 



Of the Fossebrokes this Manor of Cranford was purchased by the family of 
Maidwell, from whom it came to the Walcots, and was sold to the present pos- 
sessor, Sir James Robinson, Bart, by Captain Bernard Walcot, of Oundle. c 



y A Mr. William Mansell was his Curate at one time, whose stipend was 13/. 13*. per annum, pay- 
able quarterly. Tithe-booJc, pen. T. D. F. 

* From his will in the Registrar's Office, Hereford, proved Sept. 13, 1726. B Nos. 1467 and 1553. 
b It is a law of Heraldry, that where only the same Arms, or mere variations of branches, are borne by 

persons of the same name, they had one common ancestor. Thus, according to Edmondson, Heraldry, 

vol. ii. : 

MonJce bore, Argent, three leopard's heads sable ; to which a branch made alterations thus, Gules, a 
chevron between three lion's heads erased argent. 

According, therefore, to the Heraldic Law, the Monks of Orchard and Okehampton, co. Devon (Esc. 
22 Edw. IV. n. 8), the celebrated Duke of Albemarle, the present Lord Bishop of Gloucester and 
Bristol, and others of the name, are descended from the same common ancestor. 

* Bridges. 



22 MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 

Line of Richard of Diddlebury. 

This Richard settled at Diddlebury, co. Salop ; and married there Elizabeth 
Street, June 16, 1584, by whom he had issue Juliana, bapt. at Diddlebury 
April 3, 1585; Michael, baptized there February 27, 1587, s. p. ; and John, 
bapt. April 11, 1591. This John declined a Baronetcy, when James I. offered 
for sale his Ulster patents, observing that he had rather be a wealthy yeoman 
than a poor knight ; and the yeomen of those days are described as men of 
opulence by Shakspere and Hollinshed. The latter says, " Our ancient yeo- 
men were wealthy, and sent their sons to the University." To this family sys- 
tem of one member being always a clergyman my ancestors have scrupulously 
adhered ; and, by a singular concurrence of circumstances, I had no opening in 
life left for my second son, but in the Church ; and he is now the family repre- 
sentative in that profession of a long line of good men, Clerks also, for centu- 
ries past. This John had issue William, matriculated at St. Mary Hall, Oxon, 
March 31, 1671, and graduated M.A. July 3, 1677. He was Vicar of Diddle- 
bury, and Rector of Acton Scott, co. Salop ; and dying July 10, 1726, aged 75, 
is commemorated by the following epitaph, still existing. (i In memory of the 
Rev. and Learned William Fosbrooke, M.A. Vicar of Diddlebury, and Rector 
of Acton Scott, who departed this life the 10th of July 1726, aged 75." He 
married two wives, one of whom was a sister of Admiral Caldwell (a name well 
known in the Navy), and had issue three sons, viz. I. William, incumbent of 

Cold Weston, co. Salop, who married Frances, daughter of Baldwin of 

Diddlebury, was executor of his father's will, proved 13th September 1726, and 
died without issue. II. Edward, Vicar of Stirchley and Dawley, co. Salop, who 
had issue John, Vicar of Childerditch, Essex, and others, all s. p. III. Tho- 
mas, who was, by the partiality of his father, endowed with a good estate at 
Diddlebury, part freehold, part leasehold for lives, which had been in the family 
for at least two hundred years. This estate he squandered. The eldest son 
became tenant of the father's estate ; the second, educated for orders, who 
migrated to London, was my father : and the only attestation of former note in 
the native village of my more recent ancestors, is the communion plate of the 
church, which was the joint benefaction of the Baldwins (a very ancient family, 
see Collins's Baronetage, v. 43) and Fosbrokes, who had more than once been 
connected by intermarriages. 

The Arms of the family are — Azure, a saltier between four cinquefoils argent ; 
and seem to have been granted or taken up in consequence of the alliance with 
the Stafford family through the lady mentioned ; for a branch of the Staffords 
bore a saltier between four pears. The tinctures of blue and white were pro- 
bably derived from the livery of the house of Lancaster, the above Maud 



MEMOIR OF THE FAMILY OF FOSBROKE. 



23 



Fossebrok having been nurse to King Henry VI. The name is and ought to 
have been spelt Fosbroke, for such is the orthography in Glover's Ordinary of 
Arms, the Cranford brass, and the early Diddlebury register ; and the error of 
amplifying the Anglo-Saxon broc, as putting Vembrooke for Vembroke, alters 
the accent, from Pembroke to Pembrooke, whereas the English always lay the 
emphasis on the first syllable if possible. 

" Vixi, et cursum quern dederat fortuna peregi." 

T. D. Fosbroke. 





i^LHaJJ 



?^ a3All03M 



BRITISH MONACHISM. 




CHAPTER I. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



Real Christianity consists in Pu- 
rity, Justice, Contentment, Self-com- 
mand, Philanthropy, and a Faith which 
produces a sublime disregard of human 
events. Its virtues and its benefits 
are only exhibited with justice to its 
exquisite philosophy, when they are 
exemplified in the social duties of the 
Parent, the Conjugal character, the 
Friend, the Neighbour, and the Citizen. 
Prudence and Virtue, " the wisdom of 
the Serpent with the innocence of the 
Dove," are the real methods of en- 
joying sublunary happiness ; and the 
hope of a superior state of existence is 
the best medicine against the numerous 
evils and imperfections attached to 
material animal existence, under the 
stimulation of wants and passions. 
Unfortunately, there exists a perver- 
sion, resulting from inevitable states of 
society, which, on one side, sacrifices 
the Virtues to Pleasure or Convenience, 
on the other to Superstition. Illustra- 
tions of this evident truth, by anEccle- 
siastiek, will plainly be of less avail than 
the cool philosophy of Adam Smith. 

It would be injurious not to give at 
length a passage which elucidates the 
great principle of Monastick success. 

" In every civilized society, in every 
society where the distinction of ranks 
has once been established, there have 
been always two different schemes, or 
systems of morality, current at the 
same time ; of which, the one may be 
called the strict or austere, the other, 
the liberal, or, if you will, the loose 



system. The former is generally 
admired and revered by the common 
people, the latter is commonly more 
esteemed and adopted by what are 
called people of fashion, The degree 
of disapprobation with which we ought 
to mark the vices of levity, the vices 
which are apt to arise from great pro- 
perty, and from the excess of gaiety 
and good humour, seems to constitute 
the principal distinction between these 
two opposite schemes, or systems. In 
the liberal, or loose system, luxury, 
wanton and even disorderly mirth, the 
pursuit of pleasure to some degree of 
intemperance, the breach of chastity, 
at least in one of the two sexes, &c. 
provided they are not accompanied 
with gross indecency, and do not lead 
to falsehood and injustice, are generally 
treated with a good deal of indulgence, 
and are easily either excused or par- 
doned altogether. In the austere sys- 
tem, on the contrary, these excesses 
are regarded with the utmost abhor- 
rence and detestation. The vices of 
levity are always ruinous to the com- 
mon people; and a single week's 
thoughtlessness and dissipation is often 
sufficient to undo a poor workman for 
ever, and drive him, through despair, 
upon committing the most enormous 
crimes. The wiser and better sort of 
the common people, therefore, have 
always the utmost abhorrence and de- 
testation of such excesses, which their 
experience tells them are so imme- 
diately fatal to people of their condition. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



The disorder and extravagance of seve- 
ral years, on the contrary, will not 
always ruin a man of fashion : and 
people of this rank are ever apt to con- 
sider the power of indulging in some 
degree of excess, as one of the advan- 
tages of their fortune ; and the liberty 
of doing so without censure or reproach, 
as one of the privileges which belong 
to their station. In people of their 
own station, therefore, they regard such 
excesses, either very slightly, or not 
at all. 

" Almost all religious sects have be- 
gun among the common people, from 
whom they have generally drawn their 
earliest, as well as their most numerous 
proselytes. The austere system of 
morality has accordingly been adopted 
by these sects, almost constantly ; or 
with very few exceptions, for there 
have been some. It was the system 
by which they could best recommend 
themselves to that order of people, to 
whom they first proposed their plan of 
reformation, upon what had been before 
established. Many, perhaps the greater 
part of them, have even endeavoured to 
gain credit, by refining upon this austere 
system, and by carrying it to some de- 
gree of folly and extravagance : and 
this excessive rigour has frequently re- 
commended them, more than any thing 
else, to the respect and veneration of the 
common peopled* 

History has ever confuted the pre- 
tensions of Fanaticism to produce the 
Golden Age; that is, a race of men 
without vice or misery. The approba- 
tion of the vulgar can be no standard ; 
for they believe in quackery and for- 
tune-telling. Indeed, who can judge 
correctly of what he does not know? 
But Fanaticism will ever have success. 
It treats upon a subject where there is 
a general feeling and interest ; and acts 
by operating upon Passion, which is 
always contagious and intelligible ; be- 
cause the sensations of all mankind are 
similar, though their understandings 
may differ. 

Without a common interest, unani- 

a Smith's Wealth of Nations, III. p. 202, & seq, 



mity is impossible ; and this common 
interest extends only to religion at 
large; particular modes of professing 
it are questions unconnected with the 
feelings; which, therefore, do not at- 
tract the ignorant, who expect the 
senses to be roused, by the inebriating 
pleasures of what may be called the 
spiritous liquors of Divinity. Provi- 
dence, however, favours the liberal 
system (if it be not abused by Vice or 
Intemperance) ; for Wealth of every 
kind must inevitably be dispersed 
among the population : interest of mo- 
ney not existing without a profitable 
channel of expenditure ; and vegetable 
or animal products being insusceptible 
of accumulation without decay. " Lux- 
ury/' says Gibbon, b "though it may 
proceed from Vice or Folly, is, as the 
world is formed, the only means of 
correcting unequal distribution of pro- 
perty, by diffusing comforts and plea- 
sures among Artisans," &c. 

The Monks practically, though not 
scientifically, understood the certain 
success of the austere system. The 
Seecular Clerks were men of family, 
and worldly consequence. Therefore, 
the only method of ousting them was 
by the reputation of a superior sanctity, 
which the Monks made to consist in 
the mechanical offices of religion, and 
personal privations. This they there- 
fore established by means of rules upon 
a military principle of automatical ac- 
tion ; and thus abstracted the people 
from their rivals of the day. c The 
laity was then, by admiration, attached 
to ascetic severities.* 1 Pleasure was 
destruction, 6 because mortification was 
deemed the sole means of acquiring 
the favour of God, and avoiding tem- 
poral misfortunes.*" Aldhelm, in an 
epistle to his pupil Adelwold, desires 
him to avoid conviviality, the culpable 
exercise of riding, or any " accursed 
pleasures of bodily indulgence.'^ 

Even the first affection of nature, 
parental love, if extended to the indul- 

b Gibbon, I. pp. 65, 66, edit. 4to. c Eadmer 
(Vita Dunstani) Angl. Sacr. II. 213. d Angl. Sacr. 
I. .797. e Id. I. 213. f Anglia Sacr. II. 133. 
% Id. II. p. 6. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM, 



gence of children, though only in the 
natural appendages of station, called for 
the vengeance of Providence in the in- 
fliction of future misery upon such 
children. a 

Power and Benevolence are the most 
perfect and conspicuous attributes of 
Deity ; and maxims, which represent 
Man as a Criminal, and God as a Ty- 
rant, as in truth nonsense, if not blas- 
phemy, would in vain be addressed to 
an enlightened mind. (The gay plumage 
of birds was pronounced contrary to 
God's commandment. ) b But the igno- 
rance which renders Barbarians incapa- 
ble of conceiving or embracing the 
useful restraints of laws, exposes them 
naked and unarmed to the blind terrors 
of superstition. It has been affirmed 
that these superstitions were necessary 
in the early ages of the Church, on 
account of the ignorance of the people ; 
at least, under such circumstances, they 
were natural, and therefore excusable ; 
but when the world became wiser, 
these mummeries should have been 
abolished. d As human means, because 
we are not to do evil that good may 
come, such palliations are not tenable; 
but they have a different aspect, when 
considered with relation to Providence. 
The ferocity of a barbarous age, inclined 
to war, is only to be controlled by 
superstition ; and, in the earlier middle 
age, Christianity was very considerably 
extended by means of the sword, by 
Baptism exempting the Prisoner of 
War from slavery or death. e In such 
an age pure reason would have been 
unavailing. It was the policy of the 
Papal religion, to force itself into every 
ramification of existence ; and the su- 
perstition, which prompted these daring 
innovations upon reason, does not dis- 
gust the Philosopher, who takes human 
nature as it exists in various states of 
society, and conditions of life. When- 
ever the spirit of Fanaticism, at once 
credulous and crafty, has insinuated 

a Angl. Sacr. II. 696, 697. b See Golden Le- 
gend, cited in Chap. III. c Gibbon, I. 279, Cb. 
37, v. vi. p. 239, ed. 8vo. VIII. 320. tl Warton, 
Diss. Gesta Roman, xvii. e Solorzanus de India- 
rum Jure, L. ii. Chap. xvi. p. 263. 



itself, even into a noble mind, it inevi- 
tably corrodes the vital principles of 
Virtue and Veracity . f Pious frauds 
continued to the days of the well- 
meaning Fox, the celebrated Historian 
of the English Martyrs, who published 
the murders of persons who were long 
after living. 

That historical reasoning can never 
be correct which is not founded upon 
contemporary ideas. The superstitions 
of all nations were incorporated in the 
religion of the middle ages ; to which 
were added the temporal judgments 
which formed the Theocratick Govern- 
ment of the Old Testament, and the 
heretical perversions of the New Cove- 
nant. This shall be shown in detail. 

The progress is curious. The Barba- 
rians, after the conquest of the Roman 
Empire, were admitted to a share of the 
estates possessed by the Romans; and 
Barbarian and Roman were classed to- 
gether. Afterwards those were called 
Barbarians who did not speak or under- 
stand the Latin or Roman Tongue; as all 
the nations beyond the Rhine, especially 
the Teutonick. Lastly, the word signi- 
fied those who did not profess Popery .s 

Scecular Misfortunes. The misfor- 
tunes of Arthur were attributed to his 
loss of the patronage of Saint Dubri- 
cius. h 

If a man died a sudden death, it was 
thought that he was a bad man, and 
taken off in judgment. 1 

Robert Duke of Normandy is said to 
have been unfortunate from the time 
of his rejection of the Kingdom of Je- 
rusalem, to which he was miraculously 
elected by the spontaneous illumination 
of a taper which he held in his hand.J 

A tower was thought to have fallen 
down in Winchester Cathedral, because 
William Rufus was buried near it. k 

The Scotch took the plague which 
raged in England, for a judgment, and, 
invading the country, caught it them- 
selves. 1 

Barrenness, Famine, and other evils, 

f Gibbon, II. Cb. 22, p. 14, ed. 8vo. e Du 

Cange, v. Barbarus. h Angl. Sacr. II. 659. ' l Id. 
I. 212, 213. J Angl. Sacr. I. 270. * Id. I. 

270, 271. 1 Decern Scriptores, 2600. 

B 2 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



were supposed to proceed from disfi- 
guring an image of the Virgin Mary. a 

The appearance of a Comet foretold 
pestilence or famine, or war, or change 
of the kingdom.* 1 

Temporal good, or evil } ivas respective- 
ly connected with good or evil conduct 
towards religious persons. 

Whoever shall enrich Monks shall 
cause his progeny to prosper, both in 
this world and the other. c 

Robert Fitzharding is supposed to 
have established the foundation of his 
Castle at Berkeley, and continuance 
of his family, by building an Abbey at 
Bristol. d 

Gerard Try, a Priest, sent Henry 
Lord Berkeley a Letter of five Texts of 
Scripture, respecting retention of an 
estate which Gerard claimed, "lest it 
should consume the rest of his sub- 
stance." 6 

William Rufus says, I am certain that 
I shall go to Hell, if I die while I retain 
the See of Canterbury in my own 
hands/ 

III usage of religious persons was 
thought to bring down Divine hatred. £ 

Pope Paschal adduces the prosperity 
of Henry the First, and his having a 
male child by his wife, as a reason why 
he ought to be quite favourable to the 
privileges of the Church. 11 

It was believed that Henry the First 
obtained a victory over his brother 
Robert in Normandy because he was 
reconciled to Anselm.* 

Anselm says, that money extorted 
from Priests by Lay Authority, not to 
mention injury of the soul, would not, 
upon expenditure, be of such worldly 
service as would recompense the harm 
which it would effect J 

If Kings oppressed the Monks, de- 
position and loss of life were presumed 
to be the Providential k punishments. 

Founders or Benefactors were to 



a Script, p. Bed. 382, b, ed. 1596. b Dec. 

Scrpt. 961. Scr. p. Bed. 512. c Dunst. Con- 
cord. Regul. Proem. Spicil.Eadm. 156. d Smythe's 
Lives of the Berkeleys, MS. penes W. Veel, Esq. p. 
62. e lb. p 760." f Eadmer(Hist. Novor.) 

p. 17. * Id. 42. h Id.74. ; Eadmer 90. 

i Id. 85. k Eadgari Constit. — Eadmer 157. 



expect tranquillity, plenty, prosperity, 
and longevity here ; and future happi- 
ness hereafter. Spoliators the con- 
verse evils. 1 

Tithes were paid with the hope of 
increased crops. m 

The ordinances of Religion were made 
to supersede the moral duties ; and its 
influence supported by the most visionary 
terrors, and curious frauds. 

La Tour, who wrote a book (upon 
Education, for the benefit of his 
daughters'.) in the 15th century, tells 
the following story in that very book : 
A knight, who had been three times a 
widower, took it into his head to en- 
quire of a holy Hermit, what was the 
fate in the other world of his three 
wives ? The latter after various prayers 
and revelations, informs him, that, out 
of the three, two were damned ; one 
for using rouge, the other for having 
loved dress. The third only was in 
Paradise. This last, it was true, was 
in the constant habit of committing 
adultery ; but, not having done so with 
a married man, or a Priest, or Monk, 
or had a child, she was, through confes- 
sion upon her death-bed, let off for a few 
years of purgatory. 

Death without confession and the Sa- 
crament, was deemed disgraceful. A 
person who was going to commit a de- 
liberate murder, thought fit to take the 
Sacrament first.P 

When Prince Edward, son of Henry 
the Third, took the Castle of Glouces- 
ter, and imprisoned the Burgesses, who 
expected to be hanged, Robert of 
Gloucester thus describes their distress, 
lest they should die without confession: 

Prestles 1 hom was wel wo, that hii 2 nere issrive 3 . 
Robert of Caumpedene, that hosebond 4 was on, 
Tor he was a lute 5 clerc, he shrof^hom ech on.i 

» Without Priests. 2 They. 3 Confess. 
4 Housekeeper. 5 Little. 6 Confessed. 

Clemency and Mercy to enemies was 
alledged as a reason for the assassina- 
tion of a King. r 

1 Eadgari Constit,— Eadmer 158. m XV Script. 
379. n Notices des MSS. dans la Biblioth. Na- 
tional, Paris, t. V. p. 163. c Matt. Paris, 279, 
511. v Dec. Scriptor. 2485, b. ■> Vol. II. 544. 
Ed. Hearne. r Scriptor. p. Bed. 191, a. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



Edgar says of Almsgiving, " Oh, ex- 
cellent Almsgiving ! Oh, worthy reward 
of the Soul ! Oh, salutary remedy of 
our Sins P' a It was usual to recom- 
mend this, as a means of liberation 
from Guilt. b The Sick were taught to 
expect cures by the same mode. c It 
was a general opinion, that persons 
who had no issue should give Alms 
and found Charitable Institutions/ 1 The 
Papal Bulls often prevented Alms, at 
last, by dependence upon pardons for 
the remission of sins. e Thus we see 
that the Rich had no necessity for re- 
pentance. They, as well as their infe- 
riors, used to put a written schedule of 
their Sins under the cloth which cover- 
ed the Altar of a favourite Saint, 
accompanied by a donation ; and a day 
or two after, re-examined the schedule, 
which the virtues of the Saint converted 
to a blank. f 

The decorum attached to the proper 
exercise of the ecclesiastical profession, 
was not suitably regarded by the Great. 
There was a Jester who used to pelt 
the King (Henry III.), Geffrey his bro- 
ther, and other Lords, with turf, stone, 
and green apples, as well as squeeze 
sour grapes upon their eyes ; yet to 
this man the King gave a Church-living, 
and he was by profession a Clergy- 
man js 

The Devil and Evil Spirits were ac- 
tively introduced to prevent the opera- 
tion of Reason, lest the universality of 
Religion should be invalidated. The 
delay of Anselm's return to England, 
though evidently arising from opposi- 
tion to the King, was believed to be a 
contrivance of the Devil to destroy all 
Christianity in that nation.* 1 Aymeric 
du Peyrat, Abbot of Moissac, in the 
14th century, pretends that Pope Syl- 
vester was given to the Devil for be- 
coming Pope ; and that his bones made 
a great noise in the tomb every time a 
Pope was at the point of death. 1 In 

a Spicileg. in Eadmer. 163. b Dec. Scriptor. 
1018, 1263, 2383. « M. Paris, 61. ° Smythe's 
Lives, MS. 93. e Id. MS. 429. f Golden Le- 
gend, fol. cxvi. clviii. e M. Paris, 733. h Eadm. 
Hist. Nov. 80. ! Chronique MS.— Notices, VI. 
83, 84. 



mischief and riots the Devil was sup- 
posed to be an active personal agent. k 
Epidemical Complaints, if they affected 
the senses, were attributed to the in- 
fluence of evil spirits. The Patients 
were bound, and brought to the 
Churches, by ten or twelve at a time, 
and left there till cured. 1 

Saying the Lord^s Prayer backward, 
was deemed a part of Magick. m 

William Bishop of Lichfield and Co- 
ventry was publickly defamed, for 
having done homage to the Devil, kissed 
him on the back, and spoken to him. n 

If prayers to God and the Saints 
were not granted, the Devil was in- 
voked. In the Romance of Robert 
the Devil, the Duke and Duchess had 
long prayed for issue; but, having 
often been disappointed of a child, 

" The Ladye saide, the Devyll now send us one, 
For God will not oure petycion heare, 
Therefore I trowe power hath he none." p. 6.p 

The result was, that his birth was at- 
tended with dreadful tempests, and his 
early life very wicked. It was always 
understood, that when a man was on 
his death-bed, the Devil or his agents 
attended, in the hope of getting posses- 
sion of the soul, if it should happen 
that the party died without receiving 
the Sacrament of the Eucharist, or 
without confessing his sins. In various 
wood-cuts these Fiends personally 
appear, and with great anxiety besiege 
the dying man; but, on the approach 
of the Priest and his attendants, they 
betray symptoms of horrible despair at 
their impending discomfiture.^ In the 
prints, the Soul is represented as is- 
suing with a stream of breath from the 
mouth of the dying person, and caught 
by the Devil in his arms;** and in 
other old cuts of Christ expelling a 
Devil, a Fiend issues from the mouth 
of the Dcemoniac. 55 It was an old su- 
perstition ; for both Greeks and Jews 

k Decern Scriptores, 2636. ' Id. 2609. m Script, 
p. Bed. 161. b. n Bulla Bonif. VIII. Ryiner 

II. 932. ° Script, p. Bed. 358, b. 

p Parents consecrating their children to the De- 
vil was no novelty. See Golden Legend, fol. clix. 
i Douce on Shakspeare, II. 19. r Notices ut 

sup. vol. VI. p. 63. s Postilla Erasmi Sarcerii, 
12ino. 1561, p. 146. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



supposed that the soul was conveyed to 
its final residence by Spirits.* 1 

The Monks also maintained the doc- 
trine of Guardian Angels, b and warped 
to their purpose natural and other 
phenomena. 

Thunder produced astonishing ter- 
ror ; c and if it happened in November, 
or the Winter, it was thought to foretell 
famine, mortality, or some dreadful evil. d 
Visions were a pretended mode of 
conveying information to the Great. e 
The most coarse and clumsy imposi- 
tions were practised in this form. At 
the College of St. Omer's, in the 17th 
century, was placed as a pupil a ce Mr. 
Henry Fairefax, sonne to Sir Thomas 
Fairefax, who not yielding to their 
inchanting allurements, one night being 
asleepe in his bed, two Jesuites, clad 
in gorgeous white, as they had beene 
Angels, approaching his bedside with 
two good disciplines in their handes, 
the ends of some stucke with wyery 
pricks ; having uncovered him, they 
did after so savage a manner raze his 
skinne, that hee became for a while 
sencelesse, speaking unto him in Latine, 
that they were Angels sent from the 
Virgin to chastise him for some offences 
by him committed, viz. for resisting the 
power and reviling the proceedings of 
his superiors." This they did in imi- 
tation of the two Angels who whipped 
St. Jerome/ 

If a person lay in a Trance, an idea 
was always entertained that it was for 
some supernatural communication, as 
of Heaven or Hell.s 

Great attention was paid to Dreams, 
as the means of learning future events ; h 
a superstition probably much assisted 
by a book on the subject, falsely 
ascribed to the Prophet Daniel. 1 Nor 
was this the only means adopted 
for ascertaining these. Independent 
of Judicial Astrology, and brazen heads 
formed under planetary signs, the study 

a Plat. Dial. p. 287, ed. 2, 8vo. Whitby, vol. 
I. p. 381,399. b Angl. Sacr. II. 195, 205. 

e Script, p. Bed. 372, b. d M. Paris, 329. e De- 
cern Scriptores, 2395, 2410. f Wadswortli's English 
Spanish Pilgrime, p. 20. « M. Paris, 186. Dec. 
Script. 2424. h Dec. Script. 2426, 2530. « Du 
Cange, v. Somnialia. 



of Divinity was supposed to be reward- 
ed by God with the gift of Prophecy . k 
Vaticination was indeed in enormous 
vogue, 1 and the most respectful atten- 
tion was paid to it. m Some prophecies 
were inscribed on Stone Tables, and 
much valued. n 

The influence of Omens was not in- 
ferior. In 1282, the City of Norwich 
was laid under an interdict ; and at the 
publication of it, it is noted that a very 
fine day was almost turned into night, 
and a bell in the Belfry fell down and 
was broken. Even at the consecra- 
tion of Bishops, the text of the Gospel 
was held over the elect by the assisting 
Prelates, and the top of the page exa- 
mined afterwards, as by Divine inter- 
ference, applicable to the person's 
future character, or actions, or mission.P 
Extraordinary coincidences were deem- 
ed worthy the gravest notice of His- 
tory. In the year 1240, while the 
Bishop of Lincoln was persecuting his 
Canons, one of them in a querulous 
Sermon on the subject said (possibly is 
made to have said), "If we were to 
hold our tongue^ the very stones would 
cry out for us." The stone-work of the 
New Tower happening to fall at the 
same time, it was deemed a sad presage. <i 
Astrology met with a regard which 
has been often well exposed. In the 
Acts of St. Sebastian is mentioned a 
Chamber entirely of glass, in which the 
whole of the celestial Globe was con- 
structed by Art ; r indeed Orreries were 
not rare. Predictions were reduced to 
writing in the form of solemn Epistles, 
and circulated. 8 Every day had its 
particular duties. When the Moon 
was in conjunction with Venus, it was 
good " to seek the love of women, for 
now they be tractable;" and on the 
Sextile to u take a wife, for women be 
fond." On other days it was eligible 

k XV. Script. 515. l Dec. Script. 2393, 2394, 
2541. Scr. p. Bed. 160, 191,340. m Rous, 215, 
219. n Script, p. Bed. 386, 387. ° Angl. Sacr. 
I. 399. 

p M. Par. 15. De Foe makes Robinson Crusoe 
always practise this divination. He both knew 
the manners of early Anchorets, and was possibly 
indebted to this source for some of his materials. 

i M.Paris, 468. * Du Cange, v. Holovitreum. 
3 M.Paris, 1173. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



" to sow, plant, and take phisicke," but 
"bad to journey and marry a widow. " 
Two days after we are recommended 
" to buy beasts, and seek to widows."* 1 

With Astrology was connected Ma- 
gick. Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of 
Lincoln, when at Oxford, invented 
charms for expelling diseases, words 
for exorcising fiends, and mysterious 
characters of wonderful power, which 
were inscribed on valuable gems. b 
Pierre de Boniface, a great Alchemist, 
and much versed in Magick, who died 
in 1323, is the reputed author of a 
manuscript Poem on the virtues of 
Gems, of which the celebrated Nostra- 
damus gives the following pretended 
extract : " The Diamond renders a man 
invincible ; the Agate of India, or 
Crete, eloquent and prudent, amiable 
and agreeable; the Amethyst resists 
intoxication ; the Cornelian appeases 
anger; the Hyacinth provokes sleep ; c 
and various properties are in similar 
manner ascribed to other kinds. Gems 
were valuable presents, d and much 
esteemed by the Anglo-Saxons. e King 
John was a great admirer and collec- 
tor of them, and with good reason, for 
they were supposed to cure diseases, to 
render a person invincible/ even invi- 
sible ;S and, with the properties of 
animal life only, to detect poison by 
change of colour. 11 

The Tmaginarii were Sorcerers, who 
made images, which they were said to 
transmit to governing spirits, that they 
might be instructed by them in doubtful 
matters. 1 

The speaking Brazen-head was the 
united effort of Alchemy, Astrology, 
and pretended Magick ; is said to have 
been actually made by Gerbert, after- 
wards Pope Sylvester II. ;J and traced 
by Selden to an imitation of Orpheus's 
head in Lesbos. Conceding that the 
Lesbians did consult this head as an 
oracle, k it rather appears to be of 

a Hopton's Concordancie of Years, b. 1. 75, 77. 
b Angl. Sacr. II. 332, 333. c Notices ut supr. V. 
704. d XV. Script. 262. e Id. 302. f M. Paris, 
187, 318, 1010. s J. Rous, 206, 207. h Decern 
Scriptores, 2435. ' l Du Cange. J Malmsb. 

de Gest. Reg. L. ii. k Encycl. des Antiquites, v. 
Orphee. 



Oriental origin, introduced through the 
Arabians in Spain. Naudeus thinks 
that there may be a head or statue so in- 
geniously contrived that the airwhich is 
blown into it may receive the modifica- 
tions requisite to form a human voice.l 
In 1287, at a place called Bilebury, 
near Wroxeter (the famous Roman 
town), the Devil, compelled by a cer- 
tain enchanter, appeared to a boy, and 
showed him urns, a ship, and a house 
with immense towers. m Here we see 
a property of the Devil, evidently bor- 
rowed from the Arabian Genie. There 
were persons accused of keeping Devils 
in the form of cats ; n but this is of 
Northern origin, and refers to witch- 
craft, or direct communication with 
Fiends, chiefly confined to Jews and 
women, and very different from scien- 
tific magick, mostly brought from Se- 
ville, says John Rous, who adds, " that 
i nothing made by necromancy can de- 
j ceive the sight of those who behold it 
in water/^P a perversion of specific 
gravity. 

Cups, basons, swords, glasses, mir- 
rors, and other smooth substances, were 
used for Divination ; and this supersti- 
tion was fathered upon the Patriarch 
Joseph,^ as Dreams were upon Daniel. 
The ancient Augury was also studied. 1 " 
Medicine was mostly professed by 
Clerks, because they alone were capable 
of reading the Latin works on the art 
of healing; and Physicians were not, 
till 1451, allowed to marry, the age 
seeming to think that a Father of a 
family could not heal so well as a 
Priest. s From the nature of some of 
their prescriptions, there appears an 
evident intention of confining this art, 
as well as others, to the dogmas of 
the existing religion, for which rea- 
son relicks were introduced into the 
Materia Medica. The hairs of a Saint's 
beard dipped in Holy water were taken 
inwardly. 1 A ring taken from the body 
of Saint Remigius, and dipped in water, 

1 Hawkins's Music, II. 40. m Angl. Sacr. I. 509. 
n Decern Scriptores, 2535. ° M. Paris, 128. 
p P. 146. i Du Cange, v. Specula. r Decern 
Scriptores, 940. 8 Notices ut supr. V. 492, 507. 
1 M. Paris, 554. 



8 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



is said to have produced a drink, very 
good in fevers, and different diseases. a 
Relicks were also hawked about, and 
money given to the bearers for access' 
of the sick to them. b This pretended 
property of miraculous healing, no 
doubt conciliated the vulgar to the su- 
perstition in a remarkable degree, espe- 
cially as there was one very convenient 
rule upon the subject. Limbs, it 
seems, were as valuable as whole bodies, 
because the Saint, knowing that he 
was not entire without the limb, would 
of course attend to that as much as to 
the rest of the body. c 

Saints were not estimated, unless 
their lives were read by the inhabitants, 
or Miracles recorded of them. d With 
these, and a Legend, the Monks of 
course invested almost every religious 
man upon his decease. Publicity was 
easily given to Miracles, for they were 
cried and proclaimed by Archi episcopal 
authority. 6 Canonization was equally 
easy. The Holy See granted to the 
Bishop or simple Prelates the faculty 
of consecrating, jointly with a synod 
of their Priests, altars over the bodies 
of persons who died in the odour of 
sanctity, and of celebrating Mass there 
on certain days ; and thus they were 
in fact canonized/ Some of these mi- 
racles were merely natural phsenomena. 
Mandubnauc, an Irish Monk of Rose 
Valley, carried off the Bees of that 
place to Ireland, on board the ship in 
which he embarked. This Miracle, as 
it was purposely called, was no doubt 
effected by secreting the queen bee.s 
Hugh Bishop of Lincoln used to feed 
birds out of his hand ; and this was a 
celestial attestation of the sacredness 
of his character. 11 Sometimes Mira- 
cles were real absurdities, originating 
only in the mere propensity and duty, 
as conceived, of creating them for the 
good of the Church. Peyrat says, there 
was a miraculous fountain at Moissac, 
where Lepers came in crowds to bathe, 



a Angl. Sacr. II. 416. b Script, p. Bed. 23, b. 
« Eadm. Hist. Novor. p. 78. d Script, p. Bed. 
168. b. e Du Cange, v. Prseconizare, Prseconi- 
zatio. ' Notices ut sup. VII. 61. * Angl. Sacr. 
II. 636. h Decern Scriptores, 2417. 



and were healed by the merits of a 
Saint, whose relicks were deposited in 
the Abbey; but the Lepers communi- 
cated their disease to the Monks, of 
whom a great part died ; which induced 
the others to shut up the fountain, for 
their repose and health. 1 Now is it 
not ridiculous that the Saint should 
not screen the Monks, while he saved 
the Lepers, or that the former should 
not have the same easy method of 
cure ? The most common use of Mi- 
racles was to whitewash the reputation 
of popular criminals,J by pretending 
that these wonders ensued at their 
tombs after death ; and to this the 
women were very prone. k Legislative 
notice was taken of the practice, 1 which 
is of Classical ancientry. With better 
ideas Miracles were presumed to hap- 
pen in proof of Innocence, and revela- 
tion of Murder. m It is to be doubted, 
however, whether Miracles did not 
sometimes ensue from methods by 
which the Apotheosis of Romulus was 
established. 11 I shall close this detail 
by observing that Baptism was delayed 
by the Anglo-Saxon Kings and Nobles, 
in order to indulge in rapine and plun- 
der of other Countries, until Monastic 
retirement was resolved on.° 

Nonsense should be treated with the 
contempt which nonsense deserves ; 
but when a popular character said, in 
the event of a contested election, that 
he should take the nonsense of the 
People, and leave the sense of it to his 
adversary, he spoke truth, so far as 
concerned the influence of certain ideas. 
Dreams, Ghosts, Fortune- telling, and 
Empiricism, are not yet expelled ; and 
th e Monks were determined to propagate 
Religion by means which could alone 
prevail in the ages of their existence. 
Knowledge is of no general avail where 
Polytheism exists ; and the Roman 
Catholic Religion has perpetuated the 
customs of the Heathens, at first in- 



1 Chronique — Notices ut supr. VII. 12. i De- 
cern Scriptores, 1591, 2402,2437. k Id. 2552. 
1 Pat. 16 Edw. II. in Fosbroke's Gloucestershire, 
I. 289. m Script, p. Bed. 166, 167. b. 513. b. 
" See Malmsb. in Id. 138. b. • Script, p. Bed. 
192, 193. 



PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM. 



evitably adopted. Existence could 
alone be retained by such compliances ; 
and Providence, which does not deem 
it necessary to act by Miracles, knew, 
that where Christianity exists, civiliza- 
tion and useful knowledge would fol- 
low of course. Without Miracles, it 
could never have been effective by 
means unsuited to the ideas which it 
had to influence. It seems too to be a 
method of Providence, that temporary 
evils shall produce ultimate good. The 
state of ideas at the first propagation 
of Christianity was evidently to under- 
go a change; and the Roman power 
would not have fallen for the civiliza- 
tion of the North and West, if the di- 
version of the public mind to Christian- 
ity and controversy, the natural result 
of a public interest on any subject, had 
not destroyed the military spirit, which 
has a tendency to Violence, Luxury, 
and Pleasure. This pacific, lowering 
principle, continued to operate upon 
the fever, rapine, and debauchery of 
the rude successors of the Romans, 
with great comparative success ; for in 
certain states of disease, alterative and 
opposite medicines are indispensable. 
Purity of mind and body was presumed 
to result through insulation from the 
world ; a and through humility and ab- 
stinence, self-command and cheerful- 
ness were deemed easy acquisitions. 15 
In a vicious and rude age, it was justly 
conceived impossible for any one who 
mingled with the world, to lead a life 
sufficiently conformable to the character 
and duties of a Minister of Religion. 
Now who could think otherwise, if he 
were to reside among such a people ? 
Rude as were the methods for pre- 
serving purity, they were indubitably 
efficient where they were practised. 
Much reading, prayers, scanty food, 
confinement to the Monastery, and im- 
mersion in water up to the shoulders, 
even in the most rigorous seasons, till 
the whole Psalter had been sung 
through, were, as methods to preserve 
subjugation of appetite, though rude, 



a Eadmer, 156. 



Ibid. 



yet effectual substitutes, for the happier 
and more noble methods of principle 
and honour. Inducements to lust 
were less efficaciously removed, in con- 
versing with women, by singing or at 
least conning the Psalter. d The inde- 
pendence of the Monks in point of 
property, was founded on the principle, 
that otherwise, for the greater good of 
the Souls in Purgatory, they could not 
serve God night and day incessantly . e 
And as Man is the creature of educa- 
tion; as they did not invent, but 
received their system of Religion, which 
dictated deletion of the vices of others 
in this form, they were rather passive 
agents in its promotion, than knaves. 
If they limited the propagation of vir- 
tue to mechanical, rather than intel- 
lectual processes, they only adopted 
methods best fitted to the mind of the 
subjects upon which they were to act. 
Corporeal punishments have ever been 
indispensable where grossness of cha- 
racter prevails. As Providence un- 
doubtedly permitted Barbarism to exist 
(whether Monks had ever been or not), 
Luther's reply to Melancthon should be 
considered. The latter was complain- 
ing of the times. " Do/ 5 says he, 
" brother Melancthon, let God govern 
the World as he thinks best." Unless 
Providence chose to act by miraculous 
visible interference, the argument is un- 
deniable, that Religion can exist in no 
other than a superstitious form among 
Barbarians. The Clergy of all nations 
has ever fewer vices than the other 
classes of People ; and their faults exist 
more in the prevalent states of society, 
and bad institutions, than in themselves, 
for no body of men is so amenable to 
the public for their well-being and 
happiness. In some parts of Spain, 
Abraham is represented as armed with 
a pistol, with which he is going to shoot 
Isaac/ Is such an absurdity founded 
in fraud ? Rude ideas, barbarous so- 
ciety, Egyptian superstitions, and the 
Roman Catholic religion, solve all the 
errors of Monachism. 



c Angl. Sacr. II. 13. 
f Bourgoanne, I. 183. 



Ibid. e Id. 198, 199. 



10 



ASCETICKS — GLASTONBURY. 



CHAPTER II, 



ASCETICKS GLASTONBURY. 



In the controversy concerning the an- 
tiquity of the two Universities, Anaxi- 
mander and Anaxagoras are affirmed to 
have studied at Cambridge, and Belle- 
rophon to have been an Oxford-man. a 
Of the first extraordinary assertion 
John Lidgate was the author ; and he 
only acted in conformity to a mediaeval 
fashion of endowing favourite places 
and persons with the most remote pos- 
sible ancientry^ as essential to their 
dignity. It was a received opinion 
that St. Martial did not come into 
France but under the empire of Decius 
in the third century : this was too re- 
cent a date for the Limousins, and 
there appeared towards the end of the 
tenth century some false acts of St. 
Martial, fabricated on purpose to 
establish the position, that this Saint 
had been one of the seventy-two disci- 
ples who had been ordained by Christ 
himself, and received the Holy Ghost, 
and the Gift of Languages, with the 
twelve Apostles. b The arrival of Jo- 
seph of Arimathea at Glastonbury is 
supposed by Archbishop Usher to have 
been a similar fiction, invented after 
the Conquest ; c and the preceding in- 
stances corroborate his opinion. 

Eusebius, Tertullian, Arnobius, and 
Theodore t, however, confirm the affir- 
mation of Gildas, that Christianity was 
introduced into this island, with partial 
success, at a very early period ; but by 
whom, is not now to be ascertained 
upon authentic evidence. 

Ammonius Saccas, who taught with 
the highest applause in the Alexandrian 
School, about the conclusion of the 
second century, laid the foundation of 
that sect which was distinguished by 
the name of the New Platonists. To 



a Selden's Encomium, prefixed to Hopton's Con- 
cordancie of Years. b Notices ut supr. VII. 

400. c Antiq. Eccles. Brit. c. ii. p. 7, seq. 



a monstrous coalition of heterogeneous 
doctrines, its fanatical Author added a 
sublime rule of life and manners for 
the wise : it was to raise the divine and 
celestial soul above this world, by the 
towering efforts of Holy contemplation, 
and the extenuation of the sluggish 
body by Hunger, Thirst, and other 
mortifications. To this doctrine, under 
the specious pretext of the necessity of 
contemplation, was owing the slothful 
and indolent course of life subsequently 
practised by the Monks. d 

In the same century certain Christian 
Doctors, either through a desire of 
imitating the nations among whom they 
lived, or in consequence of a natural 
propensity to a life of austerity, a 
disease common in Egypt, Syria, and 
other Eastern nations/ were induced 
to maintain that Christ had established 
a double rule of Sanctity and Virtue 
for two different orders of Christians ; 
the one ordinary for persons in the ac- 
tive scenes of life ; the other for those, 
who, in a sacred retreat, aspired after 
the glory of a celestial state. This 
double doctrine produced a new order 
of men, who considered themselves 
prohibited from wine, meat, matrimony, 
and commerce, and obliged to observe 
solitude, vigils, abstinence, labour, and 
hunger. These persons were called 
Asceticks/ and wore a peculiar garb. 
At this time (the second century) they 
submitted to all these mortifications in 
private, without withdrawing from the 
concourse of men. But in process of 
time they retired into deserts ; and 
after the example of the Essenes and 
Therapeutse, inhabitants of Egypt long 
before the coming of Christ, formed 



d Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. 1765. I. p. 83—86. 
Ed. 4to. 1763. e Winckelmau, Hist, de l'Art. 

I. c. 2. s. i. § 2. p. 54, ed. Amstelod. 

f Hitovlaioi, ExXihtoi, and Philosophers, besides. 



ASCETICKS — GLASTONBURY. 



11 



themselves into Societies. The obvious 
reason of the origin of this sect was 
the ill-judged ambition of imitating the 
Heathen Philosophers, whose maxims, 
habits, and indeed whole plan of life 
and manners, procured them high re- 
verence, especially the Platonists and 
Pythagoreans. a The heat of the cli- 
mate caused a natural love of solitude 
and repose ; b the distracted state of 
the Roman Empire produced numerous 
fugitives, to avoid military conscrip- 
tion ; c and the ancient Philosophers set 
the example, in the intellectual luxury 
which they cultivated by elegant re- 
tirement^ The escape from a state of 
Slavery was a further powerful means 
of filling the deserts with these De- 
votees. 6 

By the early Canons, the Asceticks 
are forbidden to enter a public house, 
or to bathe with women, because it 
occasioned scandal among the Hea- 
thens. f 

Upon these Canons, it is fit to note, 
that baths of the two sexes, at first se- 
parate, were latterly mingled together .& 
The custom does not appear- to have 
obtained in this country, though the 
Britons and Anglo-Saxons had baths, 
and the Monks styled them poisoned 
hot-beds. h 

The Gangran Canons observe that 
the Asceticks used a particular garment, 
called PeribolcBum, probably from in- 
vesting the whole body ; that females, 
under pretence of being Asceticks, put 



a Moslieim, I. 95, 96. b Id. p. 141. c His- 
toric Augustas, Script, t. III. p. 630, ed. Sylburgii. 
d Menagiana, I. 338. e Chalced. Canon. 4. 

f Laod. Canons, 24, 30. 

s Pownall's Provincia Romana, 185. We hear 
of double baths of this kind in the Middle Age. — 
Du Cange, v. Geminarium. 

h Seminaria Venenata, Dugd. Monast. I. p. 88. 
We do indeed find in their later seras (MS. Harl. 
913, fol. 2.) 

" Whan the somer is dai is bote 
The zung nunnes takith a bote 
Whan hi beth fur from the Abbei 
Hi maketh hem naked for to plei 
And lepeth dune into the brimme 
And doth ham sleilich for to swimme 
The zung monks that hi seeth, &c. 
A cometh to the nunnes anon 
And each monke him taketh one." 
Warton, I believe, has printed this extract ; but I 
copied the MS. 



on male habits, and utterly deserted 
their husbands and families ; that chil- 
dren did the same with parents ; and 
that it was the custom to feast upon 
Sunday, and contemptuously neglect 
the prescribed fasts of the Church. 1 

The Legend of St. Margaret says, 
that " soon after marriage, she kept her 
from the companye of her husbonde, 
and at midnight she commended her 
to God, and cutte of her hayre, and 
cladde her in the habyte of a man, and 
fledde fro thens to a monastery of 
monkes.^J 

Theodora and Eugenia also assumed 
masculine habiliments for the same 
purposed The abstinence from meat 
and wine on festival days, was founded 
upon an opinion that the Creation was 
evil, and that the world was not made 
by the Father of Christ. 1 

These passages, indispensable to the 
elucidation of the habits introductory 
to Monachism, properly so called, shew 
the heresy of some Asceticks; and such 
must have been the first Religious of 
Glastonbury, if William of Malmesbury 
was correctly quoted, as to their follow- 
ing the Egyptian rule. m But William 
only says, 13 that St. Philip, after the mar- 
tyrdom of Stephen, travelled into Eu- 
rope, for the purpose of converting the 
Franks, from whence he sent twelve 
of his brethren, whom he previously 
ordained (Asceticks and Monks being 
in those ages held as Laymen) with 
Joseph of Arimathea at their head, to 
communicate Christianity to the Bri- 
tons; but the barbarous King of the 
Country withholding permission, only 
allowed them, from the sacred ideas of 
Hospitality, the uncultivated tract of 
Glastonbury, or Inis-witrin, for their 
residence and support. Here they 
erected a thatched Chapel, wattled in- 
stead of walls, according to the known 
method of the Gauls and Britons,o 
subsequently practised by the Welsh.P 

1 Can. 12 to 19. j Golden Legend, fol. clxxx. 
k Id. fol. xxxvi. ex. l Johnson's Canons, p. ii. 

p. 27. 31. m Eadm. Spicileg. 200. n XV 

Script. 292. ° See the Gaulish Houses on the 

Antonine column in Montfauc. Suppl. v. III. 
B. ii. c. 8. p Girald. Cambrens. inter Canid. 
Scriptor. p. 890. c. 17. 



12 



ASCETICKS — GLASTONBURY, 



A pretended representation of this 
Church, with Gothic Windows, is given 
by Sammes a and Staveley. b The au- 
thority quoted by William is Frecul- 
phus, an Abbot and Bishop of the 
ninth century, who again copied Isi- 
dore, also a transcriber, in this respect, 
of the Hieronymian Martyrology, It 
is there affirmed, that Philip was the 
Apostle of the French, and both Isi- 
dore and Freculphus join in asserting 
the conversion, by means of this Apos- 
tle, of the neighbouring countries, con- 
nected by the Ocean, d but do not men- 
tion Glastonbury or Joseph's Mission ; 
for Archbishop Usher has copied the 
very words of these Authors, and thus 
proved the mis-quotation of William. 
No genuine writer has ever brought 
Philip or Joseph into these parts of 
the Globe. The charter of Patrick, in 
which he mentions the names of the 
second religious of Glastonbury, is 
known to be forged, and some are 
Saxon appellations. e 

The age of Joseph is anterior to the 
Ascetical; and, if the fact were con- 
ceded, the Glastonbury Missionaries 
must have assimilated other itinerant 
priests, who, under Apostolical autho- 
rity, propagated the Gospel. 

Eddius, who wrote in the beginning 
of the eighth century, observes, that 
many of the donations to Abbeys were 
of holy places, deserted by the British 
Clergy on account of the wars with the 
Anglo-Saxons/ This passage eluci- 
dates the foundation by Ina, whose 
charter refers to traditions, certainly 
not of coseval invention; and all the 
early evidence, concerning Glastonbury, 



a Britannia, p. 213. b Churches, p. 42. 

c Fabricii Bibl. Med. JEvi. t. II. p. 603. <* TJ S - 
serii Antiq. Eccl. Brit. p. 8. e Fuller's Church 
Hist. Cent. 5. p. 34. f XV Scriptor. p. 60. 



leads to the opinion, that it was used 
successively as a place of refuge by 
various religious persons, on account of 
local situation (it being the custom of 
the Britons to seek retreats in marshes), 
which colonization produced its tradi- 
tional sanctity. Alfred sought similar 
security in the neighbouring isle of 
Athelney ; and the Tor is cut into Ter- 
races, exactly resembling the fortress 
ascribed to him ; both being adapted to 
the British and succeeding methods of 
defence. 

From the lives of the Saints in these 
early periods, and innumerable autho- 
rities, it also appears, that it was custo- 
mary with Devotees to migrate from 
country to country, until a situation 
for settlement was found, suitable to 
inclination and convenience : and the 
site desired was to be solitary, and yet 
pleasant. 

The Druids are affirmed to have 
been divested of all authority by King 
Lucius about the year 177?» by whose 
means Glastonbury is said to have been 
re- occupied by twelve new Religious, 
who resided, as Anchorets, in the iden- 
tical situation of their predecessors. 11 

This early abbey of Glastonbury was 
probably a Laura, i. e. a kind of Mo- 
nastery, of which the name is derived 
from the separate habitations forming 
Xavpoi, i. e. alleys between the cells, as 
in towns. These Religious led an ere- 
mitical life; lived for five days upon 
bread, water, and in the East dates, and 
remained silent in their cells. On Sa- 
turdays and Sundays they took the 
Sacrament at Church, and then drank 
a little wine. 1 



s Strutt's Horda, I. 12. 
Du Cange, v. Laura. 



h XV. Script. 295. 



MONACHISM AMONG THE BRITONS- 



13 



CHAPTER III. 

MOXACHISM AMONG THE BRITONS, SCOTS, IRISH, AND ANGLO-SAXONS, TILL 

THE REIGN OF EDGAR. 



The Mystick Theology, which 
sprung from the Platonic School in the 
third century, held that the Divine 
nature was diffused through all human 
souls ; and that its latent virtues, and 
power of instructing men in the know- 
ledge of divine things, were to be eli- 
cited by silence, tranquillity, repose, 
solitude, and mortification. This pro- 
bably induced Paul the Hermit to fly 
into the deserts of Thebais ; such a 
manner of life being common in many 
parts of the East long before the coming 
of Christ. From the Oriental super- 
stition concerning Demons, and the 
powers and operations of Invisible 
Beings, adopted by the Platonists, and 
borrowed from them by the Christian 
Doctors, originated in the third cen- 
tury the use of exorcisms in baptism, 
spells, frequent fasting, aversion from 
wedlock, discipline, penance, and non- 
intercourse with unbaptized or excom- 
municated persons, because supposed 
to be under the influence of a malignant 
spirit. In the next century Platonism, 
and the fictions which it occasioned, 
introduced extravagant veneration for 
departed Saints, purgatory, celibacy of 
priests, and the worship of images and 
relicks. At the same time, from the 
preposterous commixture of Paganism, 
arose processions, worship of the Mar- 
tyrs, modelled upon that paid to the 
Gods before Christ, pious frauds, and 
sham miracles (tricks practised by the 
Heathens), lustral water, and decora- 
tion of churches with images. These 
professors of Mysticism, so numerous 
in the deserts of Egypt, from an opi- 
nion that to elevate the soul to a com- 
munion with God it was necessary to 
macerate the body here below, Anthony 
and his disciples formed into societies 
governed by rules, who took the name 
of Coenobites. There still continued, 
however, Anchorets, Hermits, and Sa- 



rabaites, or wandering Fanaticks, who 
gained a subsistence by fictitious mira- 
cles and the sale of relicks. From the 
East all the classes travelled to the 
West, where the ability of the Orientals 
to bear a rigorous and abstemious mode 
of living, through climate, did not 
exist ; and accordingly differences en- 
sued in point of austerity . a The three 
orders of Coenobites, Anchorets, and 
Hermits, obtained in Britain from the 
earliest periods ; and we find imitators 
of the Sarabaites (besides various no- 
tices in early national councils) in the 
itinerant Monks, who travelled about 
with an ass to carry the books for ser- 
vice. b 

Collegiate Institutions existed among 
the Druids ; c but with these History 
has not presumed to connect the Mo- 
nachism of the Britons, the introduc- 
tion of which is ascribed to the fourth 
century. d It would be irrational to 
think that the British forms of the 
Monastick profession varied from those 
of contemporary date in other coun- 
tries ; and we find that the Egyptian 
Rule, according to the Institutes of 
Pachomius, e apparently introduced by 
the simultaneous coincidence of fre- 
quent pilgrimages to Jerusalem and 
the East, f was that professed by the 
first British Monks. 

The Monks of the age of Augustine 
and Jerom professed obedience to a 
superior, and division by tens and cen- 
turies, each officer of the last having 
the nine deans under him. They had 
separate cells, but no property; and 
performed a daily proportion of work, 
which, when finished, they gave to the 
Dean, who carried it to the Store- 



a Mosheim, Cent. 3 and 4. b S. Dunelm (X 
Script.), 43. c Henry's History of Great Brit. 

I. 142—7. d Id. I. 227. Fifth Pref. Monast. 

&c. e Reyneri Apostolatus Benedict, p. 119. 
f Usseiii Antiq. Eccles. Brit. pp. 109, 110. 



14 



MONACHISM AMONG THE BRITONS. 



house. At three p.m. they assembled 
at Church, to the number of 3000 at 
least ; and, after singing Psalms and 
reading Scripture, and praying, they 
seated themselves, and a lecture was 
begun by the Abbot. When this was 
finished, every Decury put themselves 
at table with their Deans, and took 
their meal of bread, pulse, and herbs. 
They never drank wine. After grace, 
they withdrew to their cells, and con- 
versed till evening. What remained 
was given to the poor. 

Martin, the celebrated Bishop of 
Tours, introduced the Monastic system 
into Gaul, and was imitated by his re- 
lative Patrick, the Hibernian Apostle. a 
Martin (whose rule is pronounced by 
Reyner to be Egyptian) resided in a 
cell made of twigs interwoven. Many 
of his disciples occupied caverns. No 
one had any property, or bought and 
sold ; but all things were common. No 
art was exercised but writing, in which 
the juniors alone were occupied ; the 
seniors devoting their time to prayer. 
They rarely left their cells, unless to 
assemble at the place of prayer. They 
took their refection together, after the 
hour of fasting. None but the sick 
drank wine. Many were clothed with 
the bristles of Camels, and a softer 
habit was esteemed criminal. Among 
them were several of marriageable age, 
who, though far otherwise educated, 
had compelled themselves to humility 
and patience. Some even of these af- 
terwards became bishops. b 

The dress of Camel's hair in Gaul 
is singular ; but Sulpitius is clear and 
precise in his words (de setts Camelo- 
rumj. JSlian mentions a stuff made 
of such materials ; and the Monks 
certainly wore garments of this kind. c 
Hats were also formed of the same 
hair; d but by the term Camblet was 
understood, at least in subsequent 
times, cloth made of Goat's wool. e As 
Chrysostom f mentions garments worn 

a Joscel. c. 12. — Reyner, 118. — Mosheim, Cent. 
4. b Sulpitius Severus in vita Martini, L. i. p. 9. 
c Du Cange, v. Camelocum. d Du Cange, v. 
Camelaucum. e Id. v. Barracanus, Camale, 

Camalius. f Lopez's Epitome Sacrorum Sanc- 
torum, L. 15. cli. iv. 



by the Egyptian religious, some of 
Goat's hair, some of Camel's, the ana- 
logy between that rule and the Marti- 
nian is sufficiently proved either way. 

KAcemarch, a Welsh Bishop of the 
eleventh century, in his Life of David, 
says, that he is concise in his account 
of the manners and customs of the 
Monks of Rose Valley, because they 
were similar to those of the Egyptian 
Monks.s Unfortunately, the Institutes 
of Pachomius consist chiefly of prohi- 
bitions and penalties; on which ac- 
count the conformities of the British 
Monks can only be illustrated partially. 

Persons applying for admission to 
the order were to stay at the Gate 
many days, be taught the Lord^s Prayer, 
as many Psalms as they could learn, 
and then be put to the trial of fitness 
in renunciation of the world, and other 
ascetical pre-requisites. If found fit, 
they were to be instructed in the re- 
maining ordinances. Then, after being 
clothed in the habit of the Monks, 
they were to be consigned to the Por- 
ter, who, at the hour of Prayer, was to 
put them in the place appointed. 11 

This denial of admission to Novi- 
tiates, founded upon, or at least similar 
to, the prohibition of Catechumens, 
under certain circumstances, from en- 
tering the Church, 1 is distinctly marked 
in the establishment of David. A can- 
didate for the order was obliged to 
remain for ten days before the Gates 
of the Monastery, exposed to rebuke 
and insult, to prevent pride. J If he en- 
dured it with patience till the tenth 
day, he was consigned to the Senior, 
who had the care of the gate, as his 
servant, and there for a long time con- 
demned to hard labour, and intellectual 
suffering, which probation at length in- 
sured him admission into the society . k 

All things were common, according 
to the rules mentioned of the Fathers 
and Martin ; nor did any one dare to 
call a book or other thing his own, 

s Angl. Sacr. II. 646. h Regula Pachomii ap. 
Stellartius de regulis et fund. Monachorum, p. 115, 
seq. ' Johns. East. Canons, 52, 53. J Vita 
Bernardi, L. i. ch. ix. See Devoirs de la Vie Mo- 
nastique, I 419 — 450. k Ricemarch in Angl. 

Sacr. II. 646. 



MONACHISM AMONG THE BRITONS, 



15 



without immediate subjection to severe 
penance. a The precise similarity of 
this particular rule to the Benedictine, b 
favours Rudborne^s affirmation, that it 
is the same in substance as the Egyp- 
tian, but mitigated, and rendered more 
efficacious. 

After the Monastery of Rose Valley 
was finished, David, who is styled, ac- 
cording to the Egyptian rule, Father, 
not Abbot, established the following 
consuetudinal : " Every Monk was to 
pass his life in common and daily 
manual labour, according to the Apos- 
tolical direction, that he who would 
not labour should not eat. This labour 
was that of husbandry. During the 
employment there was no other conver- 
sation than what necessity required; 
but every one performed his task, either 
praying or rightly thinking ." d 

These are regulations plainly conform- 
able to the Eastern rules before men- 
tioned, from Augustine and Jerom. 

"Upon concluding the rustic work 
they returned to the Monastery, and 
passed the remainder of the day till 
evening in reading, writing, or praying. 
(This evening was three o'clock p. m.) 
And then they immediately at the sound 
of the bell, without a moment's delay, 
proceeded to the Church in silence. 
After conclusion of the Psalmody, they 
remained in genuflexion until the ap- 
pearance of the Stars proclaimed the 
close of the day. When they were all 
withdrawn, the Father alone prayed in 
private for the good of the Church.'^ 

The succession of the ecclesiastical 
duty to that of manual labour, is before 
noted. None of the Eastern Monks 
were allowed to eat till they had said 
nones, which were then assigned to 
three o'clock/ The rule of Pachomius 
mentions attendance, without delay, 
upon Divine service, and the rejection 
of any excuse. Aidan, a disciple of 
David's, when occupied in reading, left 
it at a moment's warning, when order- 
ed by a Prior to attend two oxen and 

a Ricemarch in Angl. Sacr. II. 646. b C. xxxiii. 
Sanctor. Patr. Regular Monast. fol. 30, b. 12mo. 
1571. c Angl. Sacr. I. 222. d Ricemarch, 

ubisup. p. 645. e Ricemarch, loc. cit. f Johns. 
East. Canons, p. 109. 



and a cart, sent to fetch wood.s In the 
Monasteries of this eera it was not un- 
usual to have unceasing Divine service, 
by means of successive choirs ; h and 
this Oriental practice is thus alluded 
to in the fictitious Abbey described in 
the legend of S. Brandon, " and always 
twelve of us goo to dyner, whiles other 
twelve kepe the quere." 1 

After this service in the Church, and 
its subsequent offices, i( they assembled 
at the table, where the refection was 
adapted to the age, labour, or state of 
health of the parties. Bread and herbs 
seasoned with salt was the food in ge- 
neral, and accompanied with a mode- 
rate beverageJ of milk and water ." k 

Eusebius 1 notices the subsistence of 
the Oriental Monks upon bread, water, 
salt, and herbs ; which last, Chrysos- 
tom adds, as a luxury . m 

'•After grace was said they returned 
to the Church, and there passed three 
hours in vigils, prayers and genuflex- 
ions ; during which time they were not 
allowed to cough, sneeze, or spit. The 
nocturnal recreation of sleep followed ; 
but they rose again at cock-crowing, 
and prayed till day-light.^ 11 

Chrysostom says, (i At sun-rise (nay 
many before day-light) they rise from 
their beds, and, forming a choir, dili- 
gently praise God with hymns/' 

The Father (or Abbot) passed the 
day in attending the sick, schools, visi- 
tors, poor, widows, orphans, and in 
other offices of regulation and inspec- 
tion, and in prayers, and ascetical se- 
verities. Among these was the conse- 
cration of the Eucharist, and a succeed- 
ing immersion in cold water, "to subdue 
all carnal provocations."? 

David went to the Isle of Wight to 
Paulinus, a disciple of Germanus, who 
received young persons for education ;<i 
and this was usual in these ages. 

He used to sup in the refectory ; but 
had a scriptorium or study in his cell, 1 ' 

s Angl. Sacra, II. 634. h As of Bangor 

in Ireland. Reyner, 151. > Golden Legend, 

ccxxxi. J Ricemarch, ubi supra. k Cres- 

sey's Church History, p. 236. ' B. II, c. 

17. m Lopez, ubi sup. n Cressey, ubi supra. 
Lopez, ubi sup. r Ricemarch, ubi supra. 

i Girald. Cambrens. Anglm Sacr. II. 632—655, 
662. r Anglia Sacra, II. 635. 



16 



MONACHISM AMONG THE BRITONS. 



being a famous scribe. When he was 
a boy his schoolfellows declared that 
they often saw a white dove teaching 
and advising him ; a and in this age 
every person designated for a Bishop or 
Saint was so attended when officiating, 
and the dove continued till the service 
was finished. 13 In the old wood-cuts of 
the Golden Legend the Popes are uni- 
formly distinguished by a Dove, whis- 
pering in their ears. 

We have a few further scattered par- 
ticulars of these Monks of Rose Valley. 

The situation was chosen because it 
was solitary and pleasant. Thus also 
Dubricius, contemporary with Arthur, 
set up a school, or college, in a spot 
which abounded in woods. 

These ancient Monks were instructed 
from childhood in the Old and New 
Testaments ; and they worked very 
hard in manufactures and agriculture, 
even in road-making. c 

Very superstitious ideas were at- 
tached to Bells ; cl and the opposition 
to the Pelagian Heresy, and the Drui- 
dical Triads united, probably produced 
that singular exhibition of veneration 
for the Trinity, which is thus recorded. 
Three Clergymen of St. Teliau's three 
Churches claimed his body when dead ; 
upon which three several corpses ap- 
peared, and one was buried in each of 
these Churches. e Thus Giraldus Cam- 
brensis records, that three persons sat 
down to table in honour of the Trinity 
long after this age. f 

The Abbot's licence upon all occa- 
sions, the Benediction before a journey, 
and visitations to correct abuses,^ occur 
in these, as in subsequent ages. 

In these early centuries the Monks 
were not deemed of the Clerical order. 11 

Very few were ordained even in 
the most numerous houses ; but some 
were necessary to perform ecclesias- 
tical offices, and these were distin- 
guished by the addition of Presby- 
ter, as Jerom Presbyter, Beda Pres- 



» Anglia Sacra, II. 631. b Id. II. 658. e Id. 
II. 629, 655, 662. d See British Pilgrims. 

« Angl. Sacr. II. 665. f Ed. Frankf. c. 18, p. 

892. * Angl. Sacr. IT. 629, 636, 658. h Cos- 
tumes de Maillot, &c. III. p. 5. 



byter. 1 From Saturday night till the 
first hour of Sunday, these Monks were 
engaged in religious offices, except only 
one hour after mattins. They con- 
fessed to the superior ; and David, like 
the Oriental Abbots, held " divinity 
converzaciones ;"J of which we have 
specimens in the rule ascribed to Basil. 

William of Malmesbury says, that 
stone buildings were deemed miracu- 
lous by the Britons ;t and the addition 
of a Choir or Chancel was a great or- 
nament to the Churches of this age. 1 
Thatched and wattled work, no doubt, 
formed all the offices of these abbeys, 
as long afterwards. 

Costume. It was a peculiarity of 
the early British Monks, that they 
shaved the head from the top to the 
level of the ears, and thus did not 
use the tonsure of either Peter or Paul.™ 
The Egyptian Monks wore the short 
cloak of the Greek Philosophers ; n i. e. 
the Tribonium, to be seen in statues 
of Diogenes. Ricemarch says that these 
British Monks wore common leather 
jerkins, usual also with the Egyptian 
Religious.P Reyner adds white cowls. * 
In the 5 th century the Monks of Gaul 
had, besides cloaks, girdles and walk- 
ing sticks. 1 * Chrysostom mentions the 
hair-shirt as part of the Oriental Mo- 
nastic habits ; s and it no doubt ob- 
tained here at least for penance, as in 
the Egyptian rule. These shirts reached 
from the elbows to the knees,* and were 
made of goafs hair l worked into fine 
threads, and woven by weavers on pur- 
pose. 11 That worn by Becket was 
washed by his Chaplain ; x but it was 
rare if there was no vermin in themJ 
A halter and hair shirt were often worn 
in token of penitence before death. 2 
The feet and legs were, without doubt, 
bare ; for visitors were received among 
the Anglo-Saxons by giving them water 
to cleanse their hands, washing their 

V Reyner, 129. ' Angl. Sacr. II. 637, 646. 
k Script, p. Bed. 155, a. 1 Angl. Sacr. II. 659. 
m Maillot, 16. n Jortin's Remarks, III. 25. 

Angl. Sacr. II. 646. * Lopez, ubi supr. 

* P. 118. r Maillot, ubi supr. s Lopez, ubi 

supra. ' Hoved. 298, a. u M.Paris, 554. 

x Hoved. ubi supr. J Knighton, 2433. x Ho- 
ved. 354, a. 



MONACHISM AMONG THE BRITONS. 



17 



feet, wiping them with a towel, and 
inviting them to dine at nine in the 
morning ; a and the rule of Pachomius 
orders that the feet of visitors be 
washed, even if Clerks or Monks. 
Of the manners and customs of the 



BRITISH NUNS, 

I can give little more than analogous 
information from the Eastern customs, 
which of course obtained with the 
Nuns as well as Monks. 

Winifred was sent to school to a 
Saint named Beuno, who instructed 
her religiously, and afterwards veiled 
and consecrated her in a Nunnery, 
where she stayed seven years ; during 
which time she and her fellows made a 
chesible of silk work for her holy pa- 
tron. From hence she went to another 
house, where Religious of both sexes 
resided, and became Abbess over the 
sisters. b 

Paulina, a noble Roman lady, whose 
life was written by Jerom, visited the 
Monks of Egypt, and "founded in 
Bethleem an Abbaye, in whyche she 
assembled virgynes, as well of noble 
estate as of my die and low lygnage. 
And departed them in thre congrega- 
cyons, soo that they were depart- 
ed in werke, in mete, and in drynke. c 
But in saying theyr psalter and adour- 
ing were they togydre at houres, as it 
apperteyned. And she enduced and 
enformed all the other in prayer and in 
worke by ensample gyvyng. She was 
never ydle. And all they were of one 
habyte. And they had no shetes, no 
lynnen cloth but too drye theyr hondes. 
And they myght have no lycence to 
speke to men; and them that came 
late to the houres, she blamed debo- 
nayrly or sharply; and sufTred not 
that oony of them shold have ony 
thyng, save the livinge and clothinge, 



a Decern Scriptores, 788. b Golden Legend, 
ccii. c The dcoemiti, Achimitenses, were Monks 
who celebrated Divine service without ceasing, the 
society being therefore divided into three compa- 
nies. Du Cange. 



for to put away avaryce fro them. She 
appeased them swetely that stroof ; and 
also she brake and mortefyed emonge 
the yonge maydens theyr fleshely de- 
syres by continuelly fastinges. For 
she hadde lever have them good, suf- 
fryng sorowe and sekenes, than theyr 
herte should be hurte by fleshly wyll. 
And she chastysed theym that were 
nyce and quynte, sayen that such 
nycete was filthe of the sowle, and 
sayd also that a word sowninge to ony 
ordure or fylthe sholde never yssue 
out of the mouth of a vyrgine. — She 
that so spake and was rebuked ther- 
fore, yf she amended it not at the first 
warning, ne at the second, ne at the 
thyrd, she sholde be dysseveryd fro 
the other in etyng and in drinkynge, by 
whyche she shold be asshamed; and 
thus shold be amended by debonayr 
correccyon : and yf she wold not, she 
shold be puny shed by ryght grete mo- 
deration. She was merveyllous debo- 
nayr and pyteous to them that were 
seke, and comforted them, and served 
them ryght besely. And gaaf to them 
largely for ete, suche as they asked ; 
but to herself she was hard in her 
sekenes and skarse. For she refused 
to ete fie she how wel she gaf it to 
other ; and also to drynke wyn. She 
was ofte by them that were seke, and 
leyde the pylowes aryght and in poynt, 
and froted (rubbed) theyr feet, and 
chaufTed (boiled) water to wasshe them; 
and her semed that the lasse she did to 
the seke in servyse, soo moche lasse 
servyse dyde she to God, and deserved 
lasse mercy : and therfore she was to 
them pyetous and nothing to herself. 
In her ryght grete sekenesses she wold 
have no softe bedde, but laye upon the 
strawe, or upon the ground, and toke 
but lytyll reste. For the most parte 
she was in prayers, bothe by daye and 
by nyght; and she wepte so moche, 
that it semed of her even a fountayne. 
And whan we said to her oftymes 
that she shold kepe her even fro 
wepyng so moche, she said the vysage 
oughte to be like the fowl, by cause it 
hath so moche be made fayr and gaye, 
agenst the comaundement of God ; 

c 



18 



MONACHTSM AMONG THE SCOTS. 



and the body ought to be chastysecl 
that hath had soo moche solas in thys 
world ; and the lawhyngys ought to be 
recompensed by wepyngis, and the 
softe bedde and the shetes ought to be 
chaungyd in to sharpness of hayer." 

This good lady, a genuine friend to 
superstition and misery, understood 
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French ; 
"redde coursably the Scryptures in 
thys foure languages/' but u sholde her 
more to the spyrituell understondyng, 
than too thystoryes of the Scripture/' 
At her death, " anone all the congre- 
gacyon of vyrgines made noo crye in 
wepyng as don the people of the 
worlde ; but redde devoutly theyr psal- 
ter, not only unto the time that she 
was buryed, but all the daye, and all 
the nyghte." a 

Costume, In France, during the 
fifth century, the widows of simple in- 
dividuals took nearly the costume of 
Nuns, This was a hood and wimple, 
and a gown resembling a surplice. b 

MONACHISM AMONG THE SCOTS. 

The Scottish writers consider the 
Culdees as the immediate successors of 
the Druids. c It is certain that the 
Clergy were called Culdees [Colidei, 
Cultores Dei, i. e. worshippers of God] 
as soon as there were Clergy among 
the Scots ; but the old pure Scottish 
Culdees were similar to the inferior 
Clergy in the primitive Church — itine- 
rant preachers under the Bishop, not 
Monks. 11 They seem to have been 
those Religious which the Topographi- 
cal Accounts of Ireland call Canons, 
in foundations long anterior to the 
existence of that order. 

Ninian, the Apostle of the Southern 
Picts, who had seen Martin, and 
lived some time with him, founded a 
Monastery at Whitehern, according to 
Martin's rule. Columba, his contem- 
porary, in the sixth century, was the 
first author of Monastic Institutions in 

" Golden Legend, Ivii. b Maillot, III. p. 5, 

24, 32. PL iii.fig. 7. c Campbell's Journey 

from Edinburgh, I. 190. •» Skinner's Eccle- 

siastical History of Scotland, Lett. 10. 



the celebrated lona, or Hy ; e one for 
Monks, the other for Nuns; the former 
conformably, says Fordun,to the Bene- 
dictine, the latter to the Augustinian, 
rule. f The Rule of this Columb, or Co- 
lumbkill, was similar to that of the other 
Columb, or Columbanus, Brendan, Con- 
gall, &c. according to Fabricius ;& and 
Reyner supports Fordun, by observing 
that Columb's rule resembled the Be- 
nedictine, except in the modes of peni- 
tence and silence, and the addition of 
the practice of Bangor in Psalmody, 
which was that of unceasing divine ser- 
vice by means of successive choirs ; a 
division of Psalmody, which was abo- 
lished by the Council of Aix in 817, 
through the variety of practices thus in- 
troduced in different houses. 11 

Columba died in 597 ; and Adamna- 
nus, a succeeding Abbot in the next 
century, was a Benedictine. 1 

Columba is called the founder of 
the Culdees [a mistake], who fixed 
themselves in isles, upon places sanc- 
tified by the Druids. It is known that 
both Druids and Druidesses had oc- 
cupied lona. Parish Churches, from 
policy, were also founded upon the site 
of Druidical temj3les. k The Church of 
Bennachie in Marr is built within a 
Druidical circle, probably to draw off 
the new converts from their old super- 
stitions.l 

In Incrallen parish, in Murray, is a 
stone circle and groves, one of which 
was in the last age a burial-place for 
poor people, and is so still for unbap- 
tized children and strangers. m 

In the parish of Duthell, in the 
county of Strathspey, are two circles 
of stones called Chapell Piglag, from 
a lady of that name, who they pretend 
used to celebrate there (as a Druidess) 
before the Church was built in these 
parts ; and within half a mile of it is a 
small grove of trees, held in such ve- 
neration that nobody will cut a branch 

e Skinner's Ecc. Hist. I. 76, 77- Lett. 15. Usser. 
Antiq. 359. f Id. 361. s Bibl. Med.^Evi, 1. 1125. 
ll P. 151, 2. Columb's rule is printed in Hol- 
stein's Codex, Messingham's Florilegium , Stenge- 
lius, and Usber's Sylloge. • Fabric. Bibl. Med. 
Mx. I. 14. k Ledwicb's Ireland, 73, 115. 

1 Gough's Camden, 1789, III. 421. *» Id. 430. 



MONACHISM AMONG THE IRISH, 



19 



of it; and there the neighbouring wo- 
men pay their thanks to God after 
child-bearing. In the middle of it is a 
well, called the Well of the Chapel, 
and held sacred. a 



MONACHISM AMONG THE IRISH. 

One of Howard's prisons, if the re- 
ligious offices be excluded, conveys a 
clear idea of ancient Irish Monasteries, 
in habits of living and solitude. 

In the interesting Legend of St. 
Brandon, which, for ingenious fiction, 
is nearly equal to the admirable Ara- 
bian Nights, we have various allusions 
to the ancient Irish Monks, who were 
of such holy celebrity, that Paul, the 
Egyptian Hermit, is, to the astonish- 
ment of the learned, made to say, 
" somtyme I was a Monke of Saynt 
Patrikes Abbey in Yrelonde, and was 
wardein of the place, whereas men entre 
into Saynt Patrikes purgatory." b Saynt 
Brandon himself was " Abbote of 
an hows, wherein were a thousand 
Monkes ;" c of whom, in opposition to 
Anchorets, supported by others, he ob- 
serves, " we be Monkes, and most la- 
bour for our mete ;" d for the Irish 
Ccenobiarchs, all great travellers, vi- 
sited and studied the institutions of 
Rose Valley, e which their societies fol- 
lowed; but, through Patrick, mixed 
with the Martinian system, both being 
Egyptian. The pretended Monks of 
Saint Patrick's Abbey, however, " never 
spake to each other ;" and this is the 
peculiarity of silence alluded to in the 
preceding remarks of the variation of 
the rule of Columban from the Bene- 
dictine. We also hear of Mervoc, an 
Irish u Monke of grete fame, whyche 
had grete desyre to seke aboute by 
shippe in divers co'tres to fynde a so- 
litarye place, wherein he myght dwelle 
secretely out of the besynesse of the 
world, for to serve God quyetely with 
more devocyon. And I conseylled him 
to sayle in to an ylonde ferre in the 

* Gough's Camden, III. 432. b Golden Legend, 
ccxxxii. e Id.ccxxx. d Id.ccxxxii. * Angl. 
Sacr. II. 632, seq. 



See. And thenn he made hym redy, 
and saylled theder with hys Monkes/"*" 

These institutions of solitary silence 
account for the frequency of Monas- 
teries in the small islands upon the 
coast of Ireland, and the peculiar con- 
struction of their dwellings, now to be 
described. 

[It is to be recollected that in the 
second Synod, ascribed to Patrick, 
Monks are designated as solitary per- 
sons, who dwelt, without earthly pos- 
sessions, under the government of a 
Bishop or Abbot.s Hence the cells in 
these fabricks were indispensable ; for 
in fact, these monasteries were Colleges 
of Anchorets, or Laura.] 

At Inis Murray is an inclosure of 
walls from 5 to 10 feet thick, rough, 
and built of large stones without mor- 
tar. Within are cells covered with 
earth, thrown up so as to make them 
in a manner subterraneous (some are 
found in others alike horrid and 
gloomy), having a small hole in the top, 
and another on the side, seemingly to 
give air, not light. They have all been 
vaulted with the same rude stone. A 
cell at the entrance is lighted by the 
door, and appears to have been the 
place where the candidate remained 
before admission into the other close. 
The entrance into the inclosure is so 
narrow as scarcely to admit a man to 
pass. Within are three square chapels, 
dedicated to St. Melas and Colnmbkill, 
built of stone and lime in a rude man- 
ner, but modern compared with the 
rest of the building. An altar or sin- 
gle stone is inclosed within another 
square wall. 11 Dun Angus, in the isle 
of Arran, on the coast of Galway, is a 
circle of monstrous stones without ce- 
ment, of which the Monastic appellation 
is Mandra.i Within one of these Man- 
dree, or stone circles, stood, among the 
Orientals, the pillar which Symeon Sty- 
lites occupied : a well-known supersti- 
tion ; for St. Luke of Stiris, the Greek 
Saint, who lived in the earlier part of the 



f Golden Legend, cexxx. s Wilkins's Concilia, 
I. p. 3. h Gough's Camden, 1789, III. 596. 

' Ledwich's Ireland, p. 141. 

C2 



20 



MONACHISM AMONG THE IRISH, 



10th century, met with at Petree one of 
these living statues, then not unfre- 
quent, minis tred to him for ten years, 
fishing, getting wood, and dressing 
victuals ; preventing him from starving, 
and enabling him to preserve his foot- 
ing on his pedestal. a 

Though the British Pilgrims to Je- 
rusalem visited Simeon, this ridiculous 
superstition never obtained in these 
Irish Mandrae. b The appropriation of 
them to the early Monastic uses, is 
proved by Bede's description of a re- 
ligious house built by Cuthbert. The 
building was constructed around four 
or five porches, made between wall and 
wall. The wall on the outside was the 
height of a man, in the inside higher ; 
so made by sinking a huge rock, which 
was done to prevent the thoughts from 
rambling, by restraining the light. The 
Avail was neither of squared stones or 
brick, nor cemented with mortar ; but 
of rough unpolished stones, with turf 
dug up in the middle of the place, and 
banked on both sides of the stone all 
round, Some of the stones were so 
large that four men could hardly lift 
one. Within the walls he constructed 
two houses and a chapel, together with 
a room for common uses. The roofs 
he made of unhewn timber, and 
thatched them. Within the walls was 
a large house to receive strangers, and 
near it a fountain of water. c 

This large house was the Xeno- 
dochium, mentioned in the rule of Pa- 
chomius, and borrowed from the Jews, 
who had such places near their Syna- 
gogues/ 1 The fountain of water was 
for washing the feet of the visitors upon 
their arrival. At the pretended Abbey 
of St. Patrick's Monks, "the Abbot 
welcomed Saynt Brandon and his fe- 
lawship, and kyssed them full mekely ; 
and toke Saynt Brandon by the honde, 



a Chandler's Greece, 6*2. 

b It was attempted at Treves, but immediately 
suppressed. In the East it lasted till the 12th 
century. Mosheim, I. 254, 255. 

c Ledwich's Ireland, 140. <* Whitby's Para- 

phrase, II. p. 700. 



and ledde hym wyth his Monkes into 
a fayr halle, and sette them down a 
rewe upon the benche ; and the Abbot 
of the place washe all theyr feet with 
fayr water of the well, that they s awe 
before/'* 3 The size of the stones may 
be traced to the Cyclopean Architec- 
ture, which prevailed before the inven- 
tion of the orders ; and the absence of 
cement, and the construction of the 
cells, was derived from Druidism. The 
houses of the Druids were without 
lime or mortar, of as few and un wrought 
stones as possible, and capable of hold- 
ing only one person. These little houses 
were their sacella, sacred cells, to which 
the people were to have recourse for 
divining, or deciding controversies, or 
prayers. f 

This construction was not the only 
Druidical or Pagan interpolation. At 
Kildare, where once stood a temple re- 
sembling Stonehenge, was a nunnery 
said to have been founded by St. Bri- 
gid before 484 ; and about the same 
time an Abbe)-' was also founded under 
the same roof for Monks, but separated 
by the walls from the Nunnery. In 
1220 Henry de Loundres, Archbishop 
of Dublin, quenched the fire, called 
unextinguishable, which had been pre- 
served from an early period by the 
Nuns. This fire was however re-lighted, 
and continued to burn until the total 
suppression of Monasteries."? 

In the first synod, ascribed to Pa- 
trick, it is enacted, that a Monk and 
Nan from different houses should not 
lodge together; ride in a chariot from 
town and town, h or be constantly gos- 
siping ; that a Nun should not marry ; 
and if she did that she should be ex- 
communicated, her husband dismissed, 
and neither of them be suffered to 
dwell together in the same house or 
town. 1 This Synod shows the inter- 



«" Golden Legend, ccxxxi. f Borlase's Corn- 

wall, 150. s Sir R. C. Hoare's Tour, 161. 

h Festus mentions two persons, sitting together 
in a henna or car ,- and hence they were denomi- 
nated Combennones. Du Cange in voce. 

1 Willdns's Concil. I. p. 3. 



MONACHISM AMONG THE EARLY ANGLO-SAXONS, 



21 



course betwixt Monks and Nuns. As 
to the Fire, whether it was Druidical, 
Vestal, or merely Heathen, is not 
easily decided ; for such Fires were 
kept up in the Temples of Jupiter/ and 
the Pagan Fires continued long after 
the introduction of Christianity . b 

At Inismore, or Church Island, in 
Sligo, in a rock, near the door of the 
Church, is a cavity called our Lady's 
Bed, into which pregnant women going, 
and turning thrice round, with the re- 
petition of certain prayers, fancy that 
they shall not die in child-bed. c 

[Here is an evident commixture of 
the Druidical Deasuil; and others 
might be found ; but the inquiry is not 
connected with Monachism.] 



MOXACHISM AMONG THE EARLY 
ANGLO-SAXONS. 

The Hypothesis, that Benedict was 
the last Composer of a Monastic rule/ 
afterwards so amplified by Reyner, and 
so ably supported by what he calls ir- j 
refragable conjectures/ is sufficiently 
confuted by the silence of Bede, f and ; 
the various rules which were composed , 
long after the age of Benedict by various 
British and Hibernian Ccenobiarchs. I 
i( Probably/ 5 says an eminent Anti- | 
quary, Ci no particular orderwas observed 
in the Saxon monasteries ; but the Ab- ! 
bot or Abbess prescribed such rules as 
they thought best ; and were directed 
in their choice, by regard for those 
they had been used to in the houses 
where they had received their educa- 
tion, or such as were practised and 
most approved in other Monasteries at 
home or abroad.'^ 

The Anglo-Saxon Monasteries at first 
consisted of mere assemblages of re- 



a Virgil, ^£n. IV. line 200. b De Valancey in 
Collect. Reb. Hybern. No. II. p. 165. c Gough's 
Camden, 1789, III. 590. 

d Sanctus Benedictus Abbas nltimus compositor 
regulse Monachorum. Tractatus de Preerosrativ. 
et Dignit. Ord. Monast. MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. 
p. 325. e P. 120. f Biogr. Brit. y. II. p. 133, 
ed. 2. s Bentham's Ely, p. 54. 



ligious people, around the habitation 
of some person eminent for sanctity, 
who led an eremitical life, and presided 
as Abbot. He often acted as a Preceptor 
of Youth to obtain subsistence. Such 
was Malmesbury in its origin. h Elphe- 
gus refounded the Abbey of Bath nearly 
in the same manner. 1 The first Mo- 
nastery of Abingdon in the latter end 
of the seventh century was one of this 
description. The building was round 
in the eastern and western parts, and 
in the circuit of it were twelve habita- 
tions and as many chapels, in which 
were a like number of monks, who 
ate, drank, and slept there. They 
were inclosed by a high wall, nor did 
any one go to the gate except from 
manifest necessity, or the use of the 
House, and then with license of the 
Abbot. A woman never entered the 
place; nor did any but the twelve 
Monks, and the Abbot, the thirteenth^ 
reside there. They had a house at the 
gate for a Locutory, where they con- 
versed with acquaintance and friends ; 
and on Sundays, and the principal 
feasts, they assembled at Mass, and ate 
together. 1 

Alfred founded a Monastery with dif- 
ferent orders intermixed; 111 and Osbern, 
a Norman Monk, says, that before the 
Reformation by Dunstan in the reign 
of Edgar, " there was no common rule 
of living, and that the name of Abbot 
was scarce heard of:" n but that de- 
votees, singly, or with companions, 
emigrated from their native places, and 
set up Schools (as before observed) 
until they had obtained an endow- 
ment."' The first Anglo-Saxon Monas- 
teries in the eera mentioned (as Whar- 
ton remarks upon the passage) were 
merelv convents of Secular Clerks, who, 



h Moffat's Malmesbury, 36. s Osbernus Vita 

^Elphegi. Auglia Sacra, II. 124. 

k " For threttene is a covent as I gues," Chau- 
cer, Sompnoure's Tale. See too M. Paris, 413. 
Dec. Script. 1307. The idea was borrowed from 
Christ and the Twelve Apostles ; for a founder as- 
signs this reason in Marculfi Formulas, L. ii. c. 1. 
p. 12. Tit. de magna re, Sec. 

1 Dugd. Monast. I. p. 93. m Asser Menevens. 
p. 29. n Angl. Sacr. II. 91.92. 



22 



MONACHISM AMONG THE EARLY ANGLO-SAXONS. 



though they were bound by certain 
rules, and daily performed the sacred 
offices, yet enjoyed all the privileges of 
other Clerks, and were even married. 
Exceptions, though not numerous, may 
be found to this affirmation ; but it is 
sufficient to observe, that the Monastic 
orders, over every quarter of the globe, 
before the ninth century, when the 
Benedictine absorbed all the other 
orders, followed various rules and me- 
thods of living, altered them at plea- 
sure, and were not only negligent in 
observing them, but were licentious and 
profligate to a proverb, a though learn- 
ing and study received encouragement. 13 
These premises are necessary to explain 
the following passages of Becle and the 
early Synods. The former observes 
that it was the fashion in his days for 
noblemen and others to purchase crown 
lands upon pretence of founding a 
monastery; upon which they made 
themselves Abbots, collected a Con- 
vent out of expelled Monks, and their 
own servants, and led a life perfectly 
secular, " bringing wives into the Mo- 
nastery," and being husbands and Ab- 
bots at the same time. The King's 
servants also adopted the fashion, and 
the same persons became Abbots and 
Ministers of State. 

The following enactments of the 
earlier Synods are therefore not singu- 
lar. Bishops and Abbots are di- 
rected to exhort Abbots and Monks, 
to set a good example, and treat their 
families, not as slaves, but children f 
to provide necessaries for them; be 
vigilant against theft, and inculcate 
reading both in Monks and Nuns. The 
latter were not to be contentious, or 
wear pompous dresses. d 

Edgar exclaims against the Nuns for 
wearing ermine upon the bosom ; ear- 
rings, rings, and dresses of linen and 
purple. 6 

Monasteries were not to be recep- 

a Mosheim, Cent. V. p. 2. Ch. ii. § 9. p. 245 
Cent. VI. p. 2. Ch. ii. § 6. Cent. VII. v. 2. Ch. i. 
§ 1. Cent. VIII. p. 2. Ch. ii. § 13. 
. ^r.V J . ld ' ' Hutc hinson's Durham, I. p. 25. 

leg wT dlia ' h 95 > seq< e Eadmer. Spiei- 



tacles of ludicrous arts, of poets, harp- 
ers, fiddlers, and buffoons, whence en- 
sued a vicious familiarity with laymen, 
especially in less orderly Nunneries/ 

There were itinerant Musicians, as 
now, among the Anglo-Saxons for vo- 
luntary pay.? The abuse mentioned in 
the Synod existed till the dissolution 
of Abbeys. h 

Nunneries were also not to be houses 
of gossiping and drunkenness, and 
beds of luxury ; but of sober and pious 
livers ; of people given to reading and 
psalm-singing, not employed in work- 
ing fine cloaths.* 

Small Houses or Oratories were com- 
mon in these seras for reading and 
praying ; and the Nuns of Coldingham 
used them for feasting, drinking, and 
gossiping. These Nuns also employed 
themselves in working fine cloaths, 
dressing themselves like Brides, and 
acquiring the favour of strange men. k 

They were not all of this description, 
for we hear of Anglo-Saxon Nuns 
writing the Psalter with their own 
hands. 1 

Monks were not to get drunk : or 
desire worldly honours. 111 

Drinking after dinner was common 
with the Anglo-Saxons. 11 

Abbots and Abbesses were to be 
chosen of approved life : not irreputa- 
ble for fornication, homicide or theft, 
but leading regular lives, prudent and 
acute in speech. 

Several of the Anglo-Saxon Kings 
and Nobles were notorious for the 
constupration of Nuns.P But over all 
Europe in this age Monks kept con- 
cubines, or were married; and Kings 
conferred Abbeys even upon Soldiers, 
who became Bishops and Abbots. * 
Concubinage was antiently a kind of 
legal contract, inferior to that of mar- 
riage, in use, where there was a consi- 
derable disparity between the parties ; 

f Wilkins' s Concilia, ubi supra. £ Script, p. 

Bed. 26, b. h Vvarton's Hist. Poetry, II. 205. III. 
324, &c. ' Wilkins, nt supra. k Sim. Dunelm. 
L. i. ch. xiv. L. ii. ch. vii. l Dec. Script. 1907. 
m Wilkins, p. 97. 134. n XV. Script. 542. 

Wilkins, 147, 170. p Malmsb. de Gest. Reg. 
L. i. ch, iv. 1 Mosheim, Cent, X. p. 2. ch. ii. 
§ 10. 



EGYPTIAN RULE OF PACHOMIUS. 



23 



the Roman law not suffering a man to 
marry a woman greatly beneath him ; 
but he was not to have a wife. a In 
the third century the Clergy took con- 
cubines instead of wives, the people 
thinking that married persons were 
most subject to the influence of malig- 
nant daemons, and therefore most unfit 
to instruct others.b 

The Danes discouraged conversion, 
and especially persecuted the Monks, 
lest the number of their effective troops 
should be thus diminished, and the 
converts refuse to fight against their 
ministers. By this means, in the time 
of Alfred, none but boys were willing 
to become Monks, and Monachism was 
extinct. d Indeed it is said that in the 
tenth century there were no Monks 
in England, except at Glastonbury and 
Abingdon. e But I presume that this 
remark does not apply to Canons of 
both sexes, who occupied the Monas- 
teries, and whose saecular habits occa- 
sioned their overthrow. 

The immense Abbey of Bangor, with 
its three thousand Monks, continued 
long after the Conquest/ Bede informs 
us, that the Britons would not impart 
what knowledge thev had of the Chris- 
tian faith to the Angles ; and hence, 
among other reasons, we hear of no 
such enormous establishment out of 
Wales and Ireland. 

It is to be recollected, that Cloisters 
were not in use till the ninth century, 
and therefore that cells were not till 
then superseded by this substituted 



a Thus Grose (Antiq. II. 17.), who hy the way I 
has borrowed this from Du Cange, v. Viceconjux, a 
termed used in Inscriptions, and alluded to by 
Julian. 

b Mosheim, I. 137. c Angl. Sacr. II. 132. 

u Spelmanni Vita Alfredi (by Hearne), p. 131, note. 
e Angl. Sacr. I. 165. f Eadmer. Spicileg. 209. J 

s See Cloister. Note. Many interesting par- 
ticulars of Monachism in this cera will be found 
hereafter, under Anchorets and Hermits. 



APPENDIX. 

THE EGYPTIAX RULE OF PACHOMIUS h 
FOLLOWED BY THE BRITOXS. 

The punishment of speaking or laugh- 
ing during Psalmody, praying or speak- 
ing in the midst of the lesson, was 
loosing the girdle, inclination of the 
head, depression of the hands to the 
lower parts, a standing position before 
the altar, and a reprimand from the 
Chief of the Monastery. The same 
was to be done in the Convent when 
assembled for refection. The punish- 
ment of tardiness when the Trumpet' 1 
sounded to convoke the congregation 
in the day was similar. No one was to 
leave the congregation without permis- 
sion. The Monks were to remember 
orders. On Sundays no divine service 
was permitted without leave of the 
Father and Seniors of the House. In 
the morning, after prayers, the Monks 
were to study the weekly disputations 
made by the Prelates in their cells. If 
any one was asleep during these dispu- 
tations, he was to rise ; if asleep in a 
sitting position, he was to be compelled 
to rise, and so continue till the Su- 
perior ordered him to sit. The Monks 
were to assemble at the signal, but not 
to light the fire before the disputation. 
At the dismissal of the Congregation 
they were to meditate in their cells 
bareheaded, but to dine covered. When 
ordered to pass from one table to 
another, they were to go, and not to 
hold out their hands before the Su- 
periors, nor gaze at others eating. 
Laughter or speaking during refec- 
tion, and tardiness in coming to it, 
were forbidden, and silence enjoined. 
The officers were to have only the com- 
mon food of the brethren. The Monks 



h Pr. Stellartius de regulis etfund. Uonachoruin, 
p. 115, seq. 

; The Jews used Trumpets instead of Bells. 
Antiq. Vulgar. 15, ed. Braud. Tbe Royal Min- 
strels among us blew their trumpets to sapper. 
Hawkins's Musis, II. 291. The subject might be 
traced much further, 



24 



EGYPTIAN RULE OF PACHOMIUS, 



were not to strike. He who gave 
dulciamina (sweetmeats) to the retiring 
Monks, before the doors of the refec- 
tory, was, in giving them, to meditate 
something from Scripture. a Presents 
were to be divided. The sick were 
not to enter the cellar, kitchen, or take 
any thing from thence, or dress them- 
selves what they wanted, but to have 
all necessaries from the Governors of 
the House. The Infirmary was only 
to be entered by the sick ; and the lat- 
ter were not to have access to the Re- 
fectory, and eat what they liked, unless 
brought there by the officer. Nothing 
was to be carried from thence to the 
cells. Cooks of the gruel or broth 
(pulmentaria) were to send it to the 
eaters without tasting. Wine and Li- 
quamen^ were not to be eaten out of 
the Infirmary. Those on a journey, or 
the sick, who desired such Uquamen, 
were to have it furnished separately by 
the servants. No one was to visit the 
sick without leave. [Then follows the 
passage concerning Novitiates given 
in § British Monks, p. 14.] No one 
was to give eatables to any one, but to 
send him to the gate of the Xenodo- 
chium, [explained in § Irish Monks, p. 
20.] When any person came to the 
gate of the house, if Clerks or Monks, 
they were to be received with greater 
honour, and after their feet were washed 
be ushered into the Xenodochium. If 
this happened at the time of divine 
service, the officer of the Xenodochium 
was to inform the father, and thus they 
were to be brought to pray. [See this 
rule practised in the Life of David, Angl. 
Sacr. ii. 638, and all the subsequent 
Monastic rules.] Infirm brethren and 
women were to be respectively received 
in different places. The porter was to 
announce the request of visitors to see 
any Monk, and such Monk was to see 
him with a companion. If any present 

a This, I apprehend, is the " right thinking » of 
Hice -march, in Angl. Sacr. II. 645. 

b Stellartius, in the margin, renders it liquor 
*x piscibus ; but as it is used (I think in Falle's 
Jersey) for cider or perry, so Du Cange quotes the 
very passage, and renders it polus ex liquore, which 
corroborates Falle's definition, 



was brought, the Porter was to receive 
it. If any thing proper to be eaten 
with bread, it was to be taken to the 
Infirmary. When the sickness of a 
relative was announced, a companion 
was sent with the Monk, who was then 
to eat only in consecrated places, and 
no other than the usual food of the 
house. If any edible was given him, he 
was to use only a sufficiency for the 
journey, and give the rest to the In- 
firmary. The Monks were not to at- 
tend the funerals of relatives without 
leave of the Pater. They were not to 
go out alone upon business, or, when 
returning, tell what they did or heard. 
When at work, they were to meditate 
the Seripture, and say nothing. They 
were not to sit without leave. They 
had no power to send any one to any 
place. They were to wash their cloaths 
with a companion.* 1 They were not to 
take herbs from the garden without 
leave of the gardener; not to carry 
away the palm leaves, of which the 
baskets were made, without leave; 
not to eat unripe grapes, or ears of 
corn, or any thing, before it was fur- 
nished in common to the brethren. 
The Cooks were not to eat before the 
others, nor the Orcharders or Vine- 
yarders, but to have their portions with 
the others. The wind-falls of the ap- 
ples were to be put in a heap, at the 
roots of the trees. Bread and salt were 
only for those who affected greater ab- 
stinence. Nothing was to be cooked 
out of the common kitchen. They 
were to have nothing unallowed in the 
cell, "a little money," nor property. 
When removed from one house to 
another, they were to take only what 
was necessary for daily use in their 



c Taverns were brothels (Suet. Ner.). A similar 
prohibition occurs in Apost. Can. 46. Laod. 24, 
&c. In the middle ages travellers rarely used inns, 
but sought hospitality from private persons, whe- 
ther 1 acquainted with them or not. X Script. 910, 
1053. M. Paris, 966, 981. Script, p. Bed. 439, 
a, &c. &c. 

d This was done by the lay-brothers among the 
Gilbertines, when there were no fullers ; but wash- 
ing then consisted in treading the cloths in a tub 
(Dugd. Monast. II. 739), as recently in Scotland, 
See the print in Birt's Letters. 



FOLLOWED BY THE BRITONS, 



25 



dress. No one was to walk in or out 
of the house without leave; nor to 
carry tales; nor to tell what he saw 
done, or had heard. They were not to 
sleep but upon a sloping seat [reclivam 
sellulam*] ; nor to speak to any one 
when they laid themselves down. If 
they waked, they were to pray. They 
were not to drink, though thirsty, if a 
fast day was at hand. No one was to 
wash or anoint another without leave. 
They were not to speak to another in 
the dark, and to sleep alone. In walk- 
ing, sitting, or standing, a cubit's dis- 
tance was to be observed between 
each. They were not to shave their 
heads without leave, to make exchanges, 
or add any thing new to their dress. 
On going to refection, they were not to 
leave the book unchained. The pro- 
per officer was to attend to the books 
after Nones. They who were weak, 
but not confined to their beds, were to 
receive what they wanted from the 
officer. They were not to go to the 
town unless sent, nor to ride double 
upon the bare back of an ass, b nor up- 
on the pole of a waggon. The Priors 
were to go alone to the shops of the 
different tradesmen. They were not 
to go to another's cell, to receive 
presents, or hoard any thing in the 
cell without leave. The Prior was to 
delegate his office to another when 
going out. When making bread, they 
were not to speak, but to meditate the 
Psalms. c The Bakers only were to 

a This was the Scimpodium, a kind of chair and 
bed united, the feet resting upon a stool. In the 
Acta S. Triphillii, Torn. 2. Jan. p. 681, we are told 
that when he mentioned that text, " Take up your 
bed and walk," he used to say " take up your seim- 
podium,'''' &c. Bosius exhibits beds of this kind in 
his Roma Subterranea, p. 83, 91, 101. Du Cange, 
v. Scimpodium, uoiplura. 

b This was unknown to the Romans, " Do you 
think that two can ride upon one horse ?" (Mart. 
L. v. Epigr. 39. Uno credis, 8fc.) But it was very 
common in the Middle Ages, especially after battles, 
to save the wounded. Dec. Script. 2518. Two 
Templars had often only one horse between them. 
See "Watts's Matt. Paris, § Adversaria, &c. Stowe, 
&c. 

c In whatever occupation a monk or any reli- 
gious person, clergyman, or layman was engaged, he 
was always to have a Psalm in his mouth or thoughts. 
See among innumerable authorities, Angl. Sacr. II. 
361, 695, The Pgatter was thought virtually to 



stay in the baking-place when the flour 
was to be mixed. If on a voyage the 
other brethren resting upon the benches 
and decks, in the inner part of the ship, 
no one was to sleep, or suffer secular 
persons to sleep with him. d Women 
were not to sail with them without 
leave of the Pater. No one was to 
make a fire in his house but for the 
common use. Laughter, whispering, 
talking, or tardiness in prayer, was to 
be punished. They were not to talk 
of secular concerns when at home in 
the house, but to meditate on such 
scriptural matters as the Prior might 
have taught from the Scriptures. There 
was to be a punishment for breaking 
any earthen vessel, or useful necessary. 
If a Monk went to sleep, the whole fra- 
ternity were to attack fprosequorj him. 
No one was to go out, speak, or stay 
without leave. They were to attend 
divine service at the signal given ; not 
to begin the Psalms till ordered, nor 
to join another without leave when 
they were finished. They were not to 
go out of their rank, nor walk before 
the Prior. The loss of any thing was 
to be punished. On finding any thing 
they were to hang it up three days be- 
fore the congregation, that those who 
knew it might take it. No one was to 
wash his house but by direction of the 
Prior. Lost rank was not to be re- 
stored without the order of a Senior. 
If any one ignorant of his letters en- 
tered the house, he was to be forced to 

contain the substance both of the Old and New 
Testament, and to exceed the Scriptures in expel- 
ling Dcemons, &c. (Lyndw. 184. Oxf. ed.) The 
Psalms were not only learned by children, &c. 
(Malmesb. 148. a. X Script. 136. M. Par. 98) ; 
but we find instances likewise of saying over the 
whole Psalter before eating on Sundays and Festi- 
vals (X Scr. 2432), and Psalm- singing the common 
employ of the devout when alone (M. Par. 401, 
818) ; sometime the whole Psalter sung over every 
night (Id. 519.) I omit many curious passages in 
the histories of Musick ; and familiar books. See 
§ BaJcer. 

u The sailors used to sleep upon the benches. 
There was a place at the poop where the Trierarchs 
slept, on their stragulse or blankets. Those of the 
steersman (Gubernator) were merely mats (Casaub. 
in Theophrast. 338.) The hammock does not occur 
in Lye, Cotgrave, or Sherwood ; though the car- 
riage-hammock engraved in Stvutt's Horda, I. pi, 
ix. p. 45, ig Anglo -Saxon. 



26 



EGYPTIAN RULE OF PACHOMIUS, 



learn them. They were not to pretend 
occupation in Psalmody and Prayer, as 
if they could not go ; or if engaged in 
any journey or office, to omit such 
Psalms or prayers. 8 No one was to 
see the Nuns, unless he had a mother 
or other relative there. If a paternal 
estate had belonged to them before 
their conversion, visitors could see them 
with a man of approved age. When 
the Nuns had renounced it, they could 
be seen with the seniors of the house. 
There was to be no conversation con- 
cerning secular affairs. Punishments 
were to be made of negligence of 
orders, detraction, anger, false testi- 
mony, perverting the minds of the 
simple ; murmuring, disobedience, 
laughing, playing, and intimacy with 
the boys ; contempt of the commands 
of the officers and rule ; exciting quar- 
rels ; neglect of inquiring the cause of 
vexation in an Officer or Monk ; which 
Officer or Monk so injured was to be 
satisfied by castigation of the offend- 
ing party. They who left the order, 
returned upon promise of penance, 
and then pretended to be sick, were to 
be put among the sick, and fed with 
them, till they performed their pro- 
mises. Boys given to play and idle- 
ness, if incorrigible, were to be corrected 
for thirty days successively, until fear 

a Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, as soon as hehad 
mounted his horse, began the Psalter, and added 
Litanies, &c. according to the distance. This was 
done that they might nnlearn the vain fables, 
which chiefly obtruded themselves upon travel- 
lers (Angl. Sacr. II. 260), for pilgrims used to 
amuse themselves by telling tales on their 
journeys (Wart. Poetr. I. 397); and in 1279, 
when Roger de Mortimer had jousts at Kenilworth, 
he set out from London with one hundred knights 
well armed, and as many ladies going before singing 
joyful songs, a practice mentioned by Virgil, Eel. 
ix. 64, 65. (Smythe's Lives of the Berkeleys, MS. 
160.) Thus the intention was to avoid secular 
singing. Sometimes a due portion of the Hours 
was deemed sufficient. (Angl. Sacr. II. 306). We 
hear of a bishop and his chaplain singing psalms in 
turn, when on horseback. (Id. 311). A book of 
prayers was commonly used by travellers, which 
began with the song of Zachary (Du Cange, v. Iii- 
nerarium.) In some religious orders those who 
could not read the psalms were notwithstanding to 
carry tables of them in travelling, and meditate 
upon them (Id. v. Superpositi.) This was called a 
Tabula Peregrinantium, (Id. in voce.) 



was excited. Unjust judges were to 
be justly condemned by others. Con- 
senting to and abetting the vicious was 
punishable with the severest reprimand, 
but pardon was to be extended to igno- 
rance. Humility, moderate labour, 
peace, concord, and mutual deference, 
were prescribed. The Patres were to 
correct delinquents, and to compel ob- 
servation of the punishment in every 
point, either in the society of the house, 
or in the greater congregation, that is, 
to subject them to the sentence of all 
the Patres. The next in rank was to 
take the office of the Prior when absent. 
There was to be reproof for borrowing 
a book from another house without the 
knowledge of two. The Monks were to 
live blameless, and to do all necessary 
business, even without the order of the 
Prior. They were to make the six even- 
ing prayers, according to the example of 
the greater congregation. There was to 
be no ennui or weariness. If any one 
went out and was hot, he was not to be 
compelled to go to church, if the brethren 
were already gone there. When the 
Priors taught the brethren a of the con- 
version of holy life," no one, unless 
extremely sick, was to be absent. 
Whatever brother was sent out, he was 
to have the rank of an officer, and 
command accordingly. If any dispute 
arose, the Seniors were to settle it, and 
reprimand the offender. If it was be- 
tween an Officer and Monk, the brethren 
of approved conversation and fidelity 
were to settle it between them. If the 
"Father" of the house was a party, 
and absent, his return, if his stay was 
not too long, was to be waited for. 

Superfluous garments were to be 
brought to the keeper of them, and be 
under the care of the Prior. If a Monk 
came too late to receive his portion of 
work for the next day, he was to have 
it in the morning ; and if he wanted 
work, the Senior was to appoint him 
what to do. No work was to be de- 
stroyed through negligence or other- 
wise. Punishment was to be levied 
for a garment spread to the sun on the 
third day; for contradiction, conten- 



FOLLOWED BY THE BRITONS. 



27 



tion, lying, hatred, disobedience, de- 
traction, and other crimes ; for losing 
or "suffering to perish" skins, boots, 
and girdles. a There was to be a penance 
for theft, part of which was beating by 
thirty-nine Monks ; expulsion ; bread 
and water ; wearing a hair shirt and 
ashes during prayer-hours. Fugitives 
were to be punished in like manner. 
The Prior was to be reprimanded if be- 
fore three days he did not inform the 
Pater of any thing lost. If he was a 
simple Monk, and did not mention it 
before three hours, he was to be guilty 
of the loss unless he found it. There 
was to be a three days' penance for 
causing a brother to elope. If it was 
not notified to the father of the house 
e f the same hour he eloped," he was to 
be guilty of the crime. The Prior was 
to be reprimanded if he saw the fugi- 
tive in his house and did not notify it. 
There were to be six prayers every even- 
ing in every house, and the psalmody 
to be completed according to the order 
of the greater congregation. 13 Disposi- 
tions were arranged by the Prior every 
week. No one was to have any thing 
in his house but what the Prior ordered, 
who was himself to be informed against 
if negligent. The Prior was not to get 
drunk, nor sit in the meaner places 
"near the utensils of the house," or 
i<c sleep in lofty chambers" 6 

The Institutes of Pachomius, accord- 
ing to Palladius, e were these. Work 
and food were to be apportioned to the 
respective powers of the Monks. There 



R I purposely decline entering copiously into this 
ample subject, as travelling out of the record. We 
hear of an Abbot who wore a brazen girdle, as be- 
fore an iron one, in order that if his belly projected, 
it might not be a pleasure but a torment (Angl. 
Sacr. II. 45.) The leathern strap was chiefly worn 
by Monks. Du Cange, v. Mastigia. 

b It is well known that these enormous Societies 
were divided into portions of two or three hundred 
monks, of whom one portion was always officiating 
in the church, while the others were employed 
elsewhere. 

c Non inveniatur in excelsis cubilibus. Marg. 
Note. 

d Stellartius de Regulis, &c. p. 115 — 133. 

« Id. p. 134, seq. 



were to be different cells in the same 
" house, " and three in a cell. They 
were to take their refection in one 
place, and to sleep in a kind of sitting 
position upon sloping seats. At night 
they were to wear lebitones (linen tu- 
nicks), and to eat and sleep in a Me- 
lotes, or white wrought skin. They 
were to go to the Communion on Sab- 
baths f and Sundays in a hood only. 
There were to be soft hoods as for 
boys, with a purple cross. There were 
to be twenty-four orders of Monks, 
from the twenty-four letters, each order 
being denoted by A. B. r. and so on ; 
the more simple having the distinction 
of an I. the more difficult by &. and in 
like manner to every order. Visitors 
from a house of a different rule were 
neither to eat, drink, or have entrance 
to them. No one was to be admitted 
who could not undergo a trial of three 
years.s They were to eat with their 
hoods on, that one might not see the 
other. They were not to speak in re- 
fection, nor turn their eyes beyond 
the quadra h and table. There were to 
be twelve prayers in the day ; twelve in 
the nightly vigils ; twelve in the morn- 
ing ; at the ninth hour three. Before 
eating every order was to anticipate 
every prayer by a psalm. 1 



f Saturday in the ancient canons (Laod. 29, 49, 
51, &c) The Communion was celebrated on that 
day ; Saturday as well as Sunday being anciently a 
stated feast. (Johns. East. Can. 11.8.) But the 
elements were consecrated on the Sunday pre- 
ceding. 

s Here seems an allusion to the hearers in the 
Primitive Church, or to penitents after transgres- 
sion without necessity. See Nicene Can. 11, and 
Johns. Note, p. 52. 

h A Trencher in the usual acceptation, but this is 
not certain. At Herculaneum (says Winckelman) 
were found two entire loaves of the same size, a palm 
and half diam. five inches thick. They were marked 
by a cross, within which were four other lines ; and 
so the bread of the Greeks was marked from the 
earliest periods. Sometimes it had only four lines, 
and then it was called Quadra. The bread had 
rarely any other mark than a cross (which the first 
Christians constantly used), which was on purpose 
to divide and break it more easily. Encycl. des 
Antiquit. v. Pains. The " Heus ! mensas consu- 
mimus " of Virgil will occur to mind. See Hot- 
cross buns, Chap. V. 

» Stellartius, ut supra, p. 134, seq. 



28 



BENEDICTINE M0NACH1SM FROM EDGAR 



CHAPTER IV. 

BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE REIGN OF EDGAR TO THE 
NORMAN CONQUEST. 



The Anglo-Saxon Kings were remark- 
ably prone to Religion — even pros- 
trated themselves before preachers ; a 
and virtue among the Anglo-Saxons 
consisted in abstinence from pleasured 

It was objected to the Secular Ca- 
nons, that they deputed indigent Vicars 
to officiate for them, and neglected the 
services for the dead, who were thus 
supposed to suffer in purgatory; and 
that the benefactions of pious donors 
were not expended upon the service of 
the Church, nor support of the poor. c 

Desire of the popularity essential to 
sovereigns naturally induced Edgar, a 
great hypocrite, addicted to low plea- 
sures, to favour the general wish for an 
exhibition of religion by the more aus- 
tere Monastic system, suited to the 
ideas of the age. Accordingly this 
Prince,and a noble Anglo-Saxon named 
Alfreth, gave a manor to Ethelwold, 
Bishop of Winchester, on condition, 
that he should translate the Rule of 
Benedict from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, 
which he accordingly did ; d and such a 
version now exists, as well as a short 
tract of that Prelate 5 s, " of the Rule of 
the Monks/" e From its contents it 
might be inferred that the Monastick 
offices consisted almost wholly of 
singing psalms and the rubrics of the 
times and services. Among these were 
" twegen sealmes for tham cynge and 



a Eddius, XV Scr. 46, 55. b Script, p. 

Bed. 139, b. t c Angl. Sacr. I. 289, 290. 

* Hist. Eliensis, L. i. c. xlix. 

c MSS. C. C. C. Cant. Cott. Tiber. A. iii. Titus 
A. iv. &c. Bodl. Arcliiv. Seld. D. 52. In this 
MS. is the Anglo-Saxon Rule of Fulgentius : 
whether the African Bishop who died A.D. 533, or 
the Spanish prelate who lived in the next century, 
does not appear from the enumeration of their 
works in Fabricius (Bibl. Med. Mxi. II. 655, 672). 
As the Rule of Benedict was followed literally only 
by the Cistercians, that of Fulgentius conveys, in 
my opinion, a better idea of Benedictine Mona- 
chism than the institutes of the founder ; it is there- 
fore annexed to the conclusion of this chapter, 



theere cwene." Two Psalms for the 
King and Queen. Oswald, Archbishop 
of York, in the same eera, " enlarged 
the Rule by his own authority " f All 
these, however, as Junius observes,^ 
were consolidated in the u Concord of 
Rules by Dunstan," which regulated 
the practice of the Monks till the year 

1077- 11 

For the due understanding of the 
following customs, it is necessary to 
premise an account of the canonical 
hours or services of the Romish Church, 
a division originating among the an- 
cient Monks. 1 Because the Jews se- 
parated the day into four quarters or 
greater hours, each containing three 
lesser or common hours, so each canon- 
ical hour was presumed to consist of 
three smaller; and the whole night 
and day was thus divided into the 
eight services k of Mattins, Lauds, 
Prime, Tierce, Sext, Nones, Vespers, 
and Completorium or Complin. 



duxstan's concord of rules. 1 

For the sake of perspicuity, I shall 
divide the day according to the inter- 
vals of the canonical hours. 

From Unthrang (Mattins and Lauds) 
midnight, till Primrang (Prime, 6 

A.M.) 

At every season in the nocturnal 
hours, when the Monk rises to divine 
service, 1 " let him first sign himself with 



f Malmesb. Gest. Reg. L. 2, c. 8. e MS. 

Bodl. Arcbiv. Seld. D. 52. h Reyner, 208. 

• Bingham's Antiq. b. 13. c. ix. sect. 8. k God- 
win's Moses and Aaron, 103. 

1 From Reyner, p. 208 ; where it is printed at 
large. Selden (Spicileg. ad Eadmer.) has published 
the Proemium. 

'" The Monks went to bed at 8 p.m. and rose the 
next day about 2 a.m. Lauds commencing at 3 
a.m. or nearly so. " The order of nightly hours" 
(says. John de Turrecremata) " begins from Lauds, 



TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 



29 



the cross, and invoke the Holy Trinity. 
Then, after certain prayers, let him pro- 
vide for the bodily necessity of -nature, 
and so hasten to the Church, repeat- 
ing a Psalm with such care and reve- 
rence as not to disturb others praying; 
and then on his knees, in the usual and 
suitable place, repeat three prayers. 
Let one bell be rung until the Novices 
enter the Church, who from reverence 
to the Trinity shall use the triple 
prayer. a This being finished by the 
boys, let the second bell be rung, all 
sitting in their seats in order, and 
singing fifteen psalms, " singly in a 
triple division ; so that the seven supe- 
rior or former, kneeling after five 
psalms, at a sign from the Prior, and 
after the remaining bells were rung and 
psalms finished, may begin Nocturns, b 
and, these concluded, certain psalms." 
After these psalms let there be a very 
short interval, as the rule requires, 
and in summer is convenient ; during 
which the Chantor and Choir, and those 
who need it, may retire for bodily ne- 
cessities, and the rest continue in the 
Church praying. Then let Lauds fol- 
low; Lauds for the dead, and other 
services. 

Duties from Prim rang ^ 
(Prime, 6 a. m.) to Un- I On common 
deprang (Tierce, about 9 i days. 
a. m.) - 



winch are called Martins, because they are celebrated 
atdaybreak" (Comm. hiReg. Bened. p. 180. Tr. 69, 
in C* xii.) ; and Hugo a S. Victore fixes the time by 
observing, that " morning Lauds claim the last part 
of the night ; viz. the fourth watch, which is ex- 
tended to day-break." (Erud. Theol. de Offic. 
Eccles. Lib. 2, c. x. p. 1393.) The watches from 
the Jews began first at 6 p.m. ; the second at 9 
p.m. ; the third at 12 p.m. ; the fourth at 3 a.m. 
(Godwin ubi supra.) 

■ In Ethelwold's Tract, " De consuetudine Mo- 
nachorum," all the prayers and psalms are specified. 
It is in Anglo-Saxon. (MS. Bodl. Arch. Seld. D. 
52.) 

b The nightlyhoxiTS are Martins, Prime, and Com- 
plin ; the daily, Tierce, Sext, Nones, and Vespers 
(Provinc. Angl. 227, ed. Oxf.) Thus Lyndwood ; 
but others make their Nocturns to be Mattins. 
(Godw. ubi supr.) 

c " In the time of Martins in which there is an 
interval before Lauds." (Dugd. Monast. I. 952.) 
Carthusian Rule. The Saxon appellations of the 
Hours are taken from Lambard's Archaionomia, 
p. 131. 



If the office of Lauds be finished by 
day-break as is fit, let them begin 
Prime without ringing ; if not, let them 
wait for day-light, and, ringing the bell, 
assemble for Prime. This service and 
its appendages finished, let the Monks 
attend to reading till the second hour 
(7 a.m.) ; and then at the bell-ringing 
(and not before, the officiating ministers 
excepted) return and put on their day- 
cloaths. Let no one without leave 
omit this duty. Afterwards let the 
whole convent, silently psalmodizing^ 
wash their faces and proceed to the 
Church. Let the Sacrist ring the bell, 
and the triple prayer being finished by 
the seniors first, and children after- 
wards, let every one take his place, the 
bell ring, and Tierce commence, to be 
followed by the morning Mass. 

From Unbenranr (Tierce,~\ ^ 

1 Oncom- 



about 9 A. M.J to GOibbceg- > , 

rang (Sewt, about. 12.) j^ond ays . 

After Tierce and Morning Mass, the 
Prior making the sign, and going first, 
let them proceed to the Chapter, salute 
the Cross with their faces to the East, 
and bow to the surrounding brethren. 
Then all being seated, let the martyr- 
ology or obituary be read, and be fol- 
lowed by [a certain divine service.] 
Then let the Rule be read to them 
sitting ; or, if it be a Saint's day, the 
Gospel of the day, upon which the 
Prior shall make a discourse. After 
this, let any one who acknowledges 
himself guilty of a fault, humbly asking- 
pardon, request indulgence. Let every 
Monk, when chidden, before he speak 
a word, solicit pardon ; and, when in- 
terrogated why he made this solicita- 
tion, confess his fault, and afterwards, 
upon command, arise. Let him, who 
upon reprimand does not immediately 
request pardon, be subject to severe 
punishment. After this let them sing 
five psalms for deceased brethren. 

The Concordia Regularum here com- 
mences the exception on Festivals, &c. 
hereafter given ; and so intermixes the 
duties, that it cannot be followed regu- 



See Pachomius's Rule, note c , p. 25. 



30 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM PROM EDGAR 



larly in the division of the offices of the 
day according to the canonical hours. 
The custom, however, was as follows : 

From GDibbaegrang (Sext, 7 r 
about 12) to Non r an 5 (Nones, [ ^°™ mon 
about 2 or 3.)* ) yS " 

After Chapter, the Monks went to 
work or read till Sext, when, after the 
service, from Easter to Holyrood day, 
they dined. Then followed the meri- 
dian or sleep at noon, unless any one 
preferred reading. Then Nones. 

From Nonrang (Nones,~\ 
about 2 or 3 p.m.) to Myen- i 



Common 
davs. 



rang. (Vespers, First , 
Vespers, Lucernarium, i 
about 4 o'clock.^) J 

From Holyrood day to Lent, Wed- 
nesdays and Fridays in the summer, 
and all the fasts of the order, the Monks 
did not dine till Nones. Then reading 
or work till Vespers, if there was 
time. 

From yEpenrarig (Vesper s,-\ 
4o' 'clock) ;to Nihrrang, (Com- (Common 
plin, Second Vespers, 7 ( days. 
o'clock.*) J 

After Vespers followed reading, till 
Collation ; then Complin ; confession 
of sins, evening prayers, and retirement 
to rest at eight. 



Exceptions on particular Days and 

Seasons. 

The duties (proceeds the Concord of 
Rules) which were to be performed 
after Tierce on Common Days, were to 
be done before on Sundays ; yet so, 
that there might be time for confession 
to the Abbot, or in his absence, his 

a Bishop Fox says (Rule of St. Bennet, bl. letter, 
1516, fol.) " at Sext, about an hour before noon,'' 
and " Nones about 2." 

b Vespers have been placed at six o'clock ; but it 
was after dinner, among the Monks, about four. 
A visitation injunction says, " Item quod cuncti 
eant ad vesperas ad horam quartam et non ante, 
tarn aestate quam hyeme." Item, that all go to 
Vespers at four o'clock, and not before, both in 
winter and summer. MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519, 
p. 15. 

<• Thus Fuller, (Church Hist. B. G, p. 278 ;) but 
TDavies (Rites and Monuments of the Church of 
Durham) earlier. 



vicegerent. If the Monks were too 
numerous to confess on that day, they 
were to do so on the following, without 
excepting even the Novices. They 
were to confess also at all other times, 
when prompted by temptation of body 
or inclination. 

But on Feast Days, on account of 
the observation of silence and study, d 
Prime was to be so extended, that the 
chapter being finished [and a succession 
of religious services], the Monks might 
after the Peace/ receive the Sacra- 
ment. When the Mass was finished, 
the officiating Ministers were to take 
some mi:ctus f by way of refreshment, 
while the rest staid in the Church; and, 
at the bell ringing, Sext commenced ; 
and afterwards the Monks went to 
dinner. 

On a festival day a solemn silence 
was to be observed during the whole 
day in the Cloister. After the Chapter, 
let certain psalms be said for the de- 
ceased; and if the Monks have no 
work/ a simple Benedicite from the 

d No work upon holidays of course. 

e The giving the Peace [the peace of the Lord be 
ever with you] was instituted by Innocent (Walafr. 
Strabo. de reb. Eccles. Ch. xxii. p. 683.) A kiss 
(prohibited between men and women) immediately 
followed the above words, and preceded the com- 
munion (Amalarius, L. 3, Ch. xxxi. xxxiv. p. 433.) 
The reason was to shew that we were members of 
his body, who died, was crucified, and rose again 
for us (Bab. Maurus de Instit. Cleric. L. 1. Ch. 
xxxiii. (Additio de Missa, p. 586.) In the thir- 
teenth century the Queen of France when at 
church happened to embrace a courtezan, whom, 
by her dress, she mistook for a lady, (Maillot, Cos- 
tumes, III. 107), and through consecpiences of this 
kind, the pax-bord, what Bishop Jewell calls " a 
little table of silver, or somewhat else,'' with the 
picture of the Virgin Mary, was substituted in sub- 
sequent seras. See § Abbot. 

i A Little bread and wine by way of breakfast ; 
but it was "given here, lest there should be any re- 
mains of the Sacrament which could be spit out 
(Du Cange in voce.) It is also a small portion of 
broth, or similar thing, but not here; for Davies 
mentions an Almery, " wherein singing bread and 
wine were usually placed, at which the Sacristan 
caused his servant or scholar daily to give attend- 
ance from six of the clock in the morning, till the 
High Mass was ended ; out of which to deliver 
singing bread and wine to those who did assist and 
help the Monks to celebrate and say Mass." A 
Council of Mexico, in 1585, orders Priests not to 
smoke tobacco before celebration of Mass. Du 
Cange, v. Picietunt. 

* The idle and infirm had work given them. Reg. 
Bened. 



TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST, 



31 



Prior, and the reply of Dominus ; a but 
if they have, certain short prayers. 
Let the work be clone, till the bell ring 
for " robing themselves for Sext." 
When Sext was ended, the Mass com- 
menced, and was followed by the first 
bell of Nones, and a short prefatory 
prayer, as usual before every canonical 
hour. After this prayer, the officiating 
Monks of the week took their mixtus, 
while the others continued in psalmody, 
till another sound of the bell proclaimed 
the commencement of Nones, and the 
prayers appended. Dinner immediately 
followed ; and, after this, reading or 
psalmody; and if anything remained 
to be done^ the table b was struck, and 
it was directly set about. 

Vespers were expedited ; and after 
prayer in the Choir, while the bells 
were ringing, the Juniors were em- 
ployed in spiritual reading, and the 
Seniors in divine prayer, sitting. After 
Vespers, they retired to put off their 
diurnal shoes [Davies calls them day- 
socks], and take their nocturnal ones. c 
If it was a Saturday, they washed their 
feet, after that their shoes, d and emptied 

a Houses just after the Conquest, through many 
of the nohle Anglo-Saxons flying to the woods and 
turning thieves, were obliged to be strongly fortified 
and secured. Prayers, as in a storm at sea, were 
said by the master of the house ; and in shutting 
the doors and windows, Benedicite, and the answer 
Dominus, reverently resounded. This custom con- 
tinued till the reign of Henry III. ; perhaps later. 
M. Paris, 999. See the explanation postea, Chap. 
XXIX. § Novices. 

h The Tabula was a wooden hammer, called also 
Ferula, struck when a Monk was dying, that the 
rest in the Infirmary might pray for him, and the 
others hasten to it. — When the breve or obit of a 
stranger deceased Monk was announced — to assem- 
ble the Chapter — to proclaim the arrival of a strange 
brother (among the Franciscans) — at the Maundy 
— for work — for licence of conversing ; and also 
during the days in Passion-week, when bell-ringing 
was suspended. Du Cange, v. Ferula, Tabula; 
who (v. Matraturn) makes it a kind of rattle like a 
watchman's, or a clapper. 

c Mr. Strutt thinks that these were a thick kind 
of shoes, made large enough to receive the foot with 
the common shoe upon it, which was certainly done, 
though not in this express instance perhaps. 
Dresses, I. p. 48. 

d Many people observed Saturday for a fast in ho- 
nour of the Holy Virgin. It was also usual to make 
every thing clean on that day (Boccac. Decamer. 
D. II. Nov. 10.) ; but Friday was also among us a 
general cleaning day (Harrington's Nug. Antiq. II. 
270) In Bernardus (de ord. Cluniac.) it is said, 
11 on every Wednesday, if it be a private day, and 



the vessels, at the ringing of a bell by 
the Prior. After the washing was 
finished, the hammer was struck, and 
the Monks went to the Maundy. e After 
the Maundy was finished, the Collation 1 
commenced. At another sound of the 
bell, they entered the refectory to re- 
ceive their charities s (cups of wine), 
while the Collation was reading modi- 
fied in length by the time and inclina- 
tion of the Prior : and when that was 
over, the Prior said a certain prayer , h 
On other days they went to the refec- 
tory after changing their shoes. 

The bell was then rung for Comple- 
tory ;i after which, at a sign from the 
Prior, they mutually confessed. k The 

on every Saturday, the boys, after Vespers, wash 
their shoes ; they wash also their patini by custom, 
before the birth-days of Peter and Paul ; but they 
do not suspend them to dry upon a cord, as the 
other brothers do, but only lay them on the grass- 
plat of the cloister." Du Cange, v. Patini (lighter 
shoes). 

e " The Church," says Rupert Tuitiensis, " imi- 
tates that woman who anointed the feet of Christ ; 
i. e. refreshing them with alms, who although they 
are his lowest members, and, as it were, his feet, so 
tbey are esteemed the extreme parts of his great 
body." (De Divin. Offic. p. 951.) In some monas- 
teries a Maundy occurred on every Saturday, and 
the feet of as many poor people were washed, as there 
were monks. Some Abbeys, after washing the feet, 
gave linen to the poor. Warm water was used. 
(Du Cange, v. Aceolum. Mandatum.) At this sera 
there was a Maundy for washing the feet of three 
of the poor belonging to the house, and distributing 
refection to them every day (besides that of Maun- 
dy Thursday) ; and this is the Maundy alluded 
to. Augustine is first quoted for the custom, ac- 
cording to Du Cange. 

f "As soon as they shall have risen from supper, 
let all sit in one place, and one read Collations, or 
lives of the fathers, or anything else edifying." 
(Reg. Bened. C. xlii.) Late suppers took their 
name from hence. (Du Cange in litt. C.p. 749, ed. 
Bened.) 

s Given on Festivals, Anniversaries, &c. to re- 
mind the Monks of benefits received ; and first 
mentioned in Eddius's Life of Wilfrid, about the 
year 700. Du Cange, v. Caritates. 

h Let the Abbot say after the drinking, " Blessed 
be the name of the Lord." After this drinking, let 
the hour of rest take place. Abbas dicet post po- 
tum, sit nomen dominibenedictum ; post banc po- 
tationem teneatur bora quietis. Missale de Oseney, 
MS. Arch. A. Bodl. 73, § .Depotu Caritatis. 

1 So called because it completed the duties of the 
day ; and the service ending with that versicle of 
the Psalms: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my 
mouth, and keep the door of my lips," silence was 
strictly observed till the next day. Fuller's Church 
History, Book 6, p. 289. 

k This was usual in all orders. " Wulstan at- 
tended the collation of the naonke, that, having 



32 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM EDGAR 



Complin was concluded by certain 
prayers ; at the end of which the Hebdo- 
madary (the officiating minister of the 
week) sprinkled the Monks with holy 
water, as was done also to the Dormi- 
tory. And if any one staid longer for 
private prayer, he was indulged till the 
bell of the Sacristy rung for that pur- 
pose, warned him to depart. 

From the calends of November to 
the beginning of Lent access was 
granted (in silence) to the fire, and a fit 
place chosen for that purposed The 
same customs were observed here as in 
the Cloister, where in tranquil seasons 
the Monks abode. No one went from 
hence without leave of the Prior. 

At this season the Monks rose ear- 
lier to Vigils ; b and after Mattins, 
Lauds, Prime, and other services 
finished, attended to reading. From 
the feast of St. Martin c the bell of 
Nones rung, which Nones no drinking d 
followed, till the Purification of the 
Virgin Mary. This was done on all 
solemn days ; but on others they put 
on their shoes, &c. as before directed. 

In Advent let the fat of Bacon e be 
forbidden except on holidays. 



made the general confession with them, and given 
the benediction, he might retire to rest.' ' Knighton 
in X Script, col. 2367. 

a See Chap. LIN. § Common House. 

b These, says Linwood, (Prov. p. 102) were eves 
of certain feasts, in which they not only fasted, but 
prayed and watched the whole night. There were, 
however, two nightly services on the chief festivals, 
one in the beginning of night ; and this seems 
to be the Vigils here alluded to. Du Cange, v. 
Viffilice. 

c The Latins observed three Lents ; the greater 
Lent of forty days, and the two others of St. Mar- 
tin's and John the Baptist before Christmas, latterly 
compressed into one. It began upon the octaves 
of All Saints ; and Egbert (De Eccles. Institut.) 
says, that the English nation, in the full week before 
Christmas, not only fasted on Wednesday, Friday, 
and Saturday, but spent twelve whole days before 
Christmas, in fasts, vigils, prayers, and almsgiving ; 
which practice obtained both among the monks and 
people. Du Cange, v. Quadragesima. 

(l These were called Biberes, and were usual in 
lummer after Nones. Du Cange, v. Biberes 
Nonales. 

e Stocks of Bacon were laid in for winter provi- 
sion by our ancestors (M. Paris, 527) ; and this 
season, being the smaller Lent, it was forbidden, 
as being a luxury. We are told, that none of the 
Monks ate meat or blood till the time of Charle- 
magne, who obtained by devout prayers from Pope 



In Advent, Vespers were celebrated 
at the usual time after dinner. On the 
Vigil of Christmas day, whilst that 
event was recited by the reader in the 
Chapter, all, rising together, kneeled 
down to thank our Lord for the piety 
of his sacrifice. On Easter-day the 
Gospel was read by the Abbot. Before 
Lauds the ministers went out in si- 
lence, to shoe, wash, and clothe them- 
selves in haste. After Prime the Chap- 
ter was held ; and, after other spiritual 
duties, the Monks besought indulgence 
of the Abbot for their faults ; and the 
Abbot, throwing himself at their feet, 
did the like from them. After the 
Chapter they robed themselves for 
Tierce. 

On the Purification of the Virgin 
Mary/ they went in surplices to the 
Church for Candles, which were conse- 
crated, sprinkled with Holy Water, and 
censed by the Abbot. Every Monk 
took a Candle from the Sacrist and 
lighted it. A procession was made, 
Tierce and Mass were celebrated, and 
the Candles offered to the Priest. 

Palm Sunday? was celebrated in a 



Leo the use of blood ; and procured for the Monks 
on his side of the Alps, the fat of bacon, the others 
having olive oil. Monachorum nemo carne vel 
sanguine vescebatur ante tempora Caroli Magni ; 
qui devotis optinuit a Leone Papasupplicationibus, 
usum sanguinis Cismontanis Monachis impetrans 
eis oleum Lardinum, qui non haberent Laurinam, 
ut Transmontani. MS. Bodl. Wood, II. p. 213, 
from W. Mapes, de Nugis Curialium. Query, J. 
Sarisb.? 

f Candlemas Day. The candles at the Pu- 
rification, says Alcuinus (De Divin. Offic. p. 231), 
were an exchange for the lustration of the Pagans ; 
and candles were used from the parable of the wise 
virgins. Du Cange observes, that it was a substitute 
of Pope Gelasius for the candles, which in February, 
the people used to carry in the Lupercalia (v. Can- 
delaria.) Another reason was, that the use of 
lighted tapers, which was observed all winter at 
Vespers, and Litanies, was then wont to cease till 
the next All Hallow Mass (Antiq. Vulg. 221.) 
The people used to go to Church carrying candles 
in their hands. In the ancient Danish calendars, 
a hand holding a torch was painted, in allusion to 
the day. Du Cange. 

s Branches of box-wood (Palms not being to be 
obtained here) were carried in procession in me- 
mory of the Palms strewed before Christ. (Du 
Cange, v. Dominica Dies. Lignum Paschale.) The 
Host was carried on an ass, bushes were strewed 
in the road, cloths of the richest kind spread and 
hung about (Antiq. Vulg. 237, ed, Brand.), and 



TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 



33 



similar manner by a procession, conse- 
crating, sprinkling, and censing the 
Palm branches, which were immediately 
afterwards distributed, and, at the end 
of a religious service, offered like the 
Candles at the Altar. 

In the first nights of the Passion 
Week, a if Mattins were ended before 
day-break, they retired to rest, though 
it was more laudable if they remained 
watching. After Prime on these days 
the whole Psalter was gone over in the 
Choir : after that the Litany was sung 
in a prostrate position ; then they read 
till the time for shoeing themselves ; 
and after Chapter unshod and washed 
the pavement of the Church and the 
Altar with holy water. No Mass was 
said till this was done to the Altar ; 
after which they washed their feet and 
re-shod themselves. After Sext there 
was a Mass, and such a number of 
poor as the Abbot approved having 
been collected in a fit place, they pro- 
ceeded to the Maunday b [which was 



the heads of children and adults, become dirty, 
through Lent, washed in preparation for confirma- 
tion (Du Cange, v. Capitiluvium) . See the next 
Chapter. 

a The weeks of Lent had their several denomina- 
tions from certain duties, now obsolete, as the 
Hebdomada casta (Chaste week) ; because Chastity- 
was to be observed throughout Lent. Hebdomada 
Indulgentiae, the Holy week, when penitents were 
absolved in it. Hebdomada Mediana, the fourth 
week, when ordinations were held, especially of 
Priests (Du Cange, v. Hebdomada). [This con- 
tains Mid-Lent, or Mothering Sunday, imperfectly 
explained in the Antiquitates Vulgares. It is 
founded on the Roman Hilaria, or feast in honour 
of the Mother of the Gods, upon the 8 Ides of 
March (of this see Danet. v. Calendar) ; which 
Mother of the Gods was converted by Christianity 
into the Mother Church, whence in the second step 
the Antiquitates Vulgares deduce the origin.] Heb- 
domada muta, when the bells were bound up. Heb- 
domada psenalis, Passion Week, to be passed in 
the strictest fasting for the memory of Christ. Du 
Cange. 

b Bishop Jewell says (in addition made to what 
has been before said), "The bodies of them that 
had appointed to be baptized (at Easter), being ill- 
cherished, by reason of the Lenten fast, would have 
had some loathsomeness in the touching, unlesse 
they had been washt at some time before ; and that, 
therefore, they chose this day chiefly to that pur- 
pose, xipon which day the Lord's supper is yearly 
celebrated." Bishop Jewell's Defence of his Apo- 
logy, p. 87. 



done by washing, wiping, and kissing 
their feet], and giving them water [to 
wash their hands], money, and provi- 
sions, and singing suitable Antipho- 
nars. c 

After Nones they cloathed them- 
selves if they chose, and the Sacrist 
carried to the Church gate a spear with 
the image of a serpent. d A light struck 
from a flint was consecrated by the 
Abbot ; and the candle, fixed on the 
spear like a serpent, was lighted from 
it. e The Convent then entered the 
Church, and a taper was lighted from 
the candle. In the same ceremony on 
Friday the Serpent was carried by the 
Dean, on the Saturday by the Prior, 
after which Mass followed. When con- 
cluded they took Mioctus ; and the 
Abbot, with certain of his Monks, per- 
formed his own Maunday ; after which 
Vespers commenced, and was followed 
by the conventual refection. The 
Monks had then their Maundy, This 
was succeeded by the commencement 
of the collation, a certain part of the 
Gospel was read, and the whole Con- 
vent with tapers and frankincense, and 
the Deacon reading the Gospel, went 
to the refectory, and sat down while 
the reading was still continued. The 
Abbot went round with the cup of 
drink, and kissed the Monks 5 hands ; 
then, upon his being seated, the Prior 
and other officers drank to him again. 

c Alternate chaunts of two choirs. They origi- 
nated with Ignatius among the Greeks, and were 
introduced by Ambrose among the Latins. They 
were taken from the two Seraphim, and intended to 
represent the two covenants mutually answeriug 
each other. Rab. Maur. de Instit. Cler. L. ii. Ch. 
50, p. 615. See too Du Cange, v. Aniiphonar. 

d Du Cange says, that it was a wooden rod made 
in a spiral form, from whence the name Serpent 
(v. Serpens). Zosimus first instituted it ; the ta- 
per was Christ, and expressed the column of fire 
which preceded the Israelites. The new fire lighted 
from it was the new doctrine of Christ (Gemma 
Animas, 1281). In the Holy Church of Jerusalem 
a pretended Angel descended to light it (La Brec- 
quiere, p. 12). It was lighted through the roof at 
Durham. (Davies.) 

e The flint was Christ, the fire was the Holy 
Ghost (Rup. Tuitiens. L. v. Ch. xxviii. § de novo 
igne). See more in the next Chapter concerning 
the Taper, and the note under Agnus Dei. 



34 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM EDGAR 



When the Gospel was finished, and 
the cups emptied, they unrobed them- 
selves, and went to Complin. 

At Easter Lauds were as before. 
At Prime all were bare-footed a till the 
Cross was worshipped. 1 * On the same 
day at Nonesf the Abbot and Convent 
went to the Church, and, after the 
prayer, while he was robed, he came 
from the Vestry, before the Altar, to 
pray ; and then, silently going to his 
seat, the Sub-deacon began a service 
relating to the Passion of Christ ; and 
when they came to " they parted my 
vestments among them/' the Dea- 
con stripped the Altar of the silk, 
which had been placed under the Mis- 
sals, in the manner of thieves. d This 
was followed by prayers : the Abbot 
returning to the Altar began others ; 
the first without genuflexion , e Then 
the Cross was held at a short distance 
from the Altar by two Deacons/ and a 
short service was performed in Latin 
and Greek.? The Cross was then 
brought before the Altar, and an Aco- 
lyte followed with the cushion on 
which the Cross was put. Then fol- 
lowed a religious service, during which 
the Cross was exalted, and then un- 



a Of this see § Pilgrims. 

b Of this veneration of the Cross, see Angl. 
Sacra, II. 316. 

c Because at the ninth hour Christ cried, " Fa- 
ther, into thy hands I resign my spirit." Rup. 
Tuitiens. L. vi. Ch. iv. p. 959. 

d Because our Lord was stripped of his clothes. 
Rup. Tuitiens. L. v. Ch. xxx. p. 955. 

e "At what hours or times among the public 
services we are not to pray with genuflexion, the 
Canons mention : i. e. on Sundays, and the greater 
feasts, and Quinquagesima ; according to which 
Canons, the public penitents are, however, always 
to kneel.'' (Walafr. Strabo de reb. eccles. Ch. 
xxv. p. 686-7.) Lyndwood says, genuflexions are 
not to be made at the hours from Easter to Pente- 
cost inclusive, in sign of the Resurrection ; nor on 
any Sunday ; but it was otherwise upon Fast- days 
(p. 298.) "See too Justin Martyr, p. 468. 

1 Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, who 
begged our Lord's body from Pilate. Rup. Tuit. 
L. vi. Ch; xxxiii. p. 967. 

k There were Alleluias, Osannas, &c. i. e. Greek, 
Latin, and Hebrew, in the Mass; because our 
Lord's title on the cross was drawn up in these 
languages. Hug, a S. Victore, Ch. ii. 12. 



covered. 11 This denudation of the 
Cross continued until the Sub-Deacon 
turned to the congregation. Upon this 
the Abbot and all the Convent of the 
right choir thrice prostrated themselves 
before the Cross, and said the seven 
penitential Psalms, 1 and suitable pray- 
ers. After these they kissed the Cross, k 
the Abbot returned to his seat ; and 
the left Choir and all the congregation 
and people did the same. 

Further, because on that day was the 
burial of our Saviour, an image of a 
Sepulchre was made on a vacant side 
of the Altar, and a veil drawn around 
it, where the Cross was laid until it 
should have been worshipped in this 
form. The Deacons bearers wrapping- 
it in silk in the places where it had 
been worshipped, brought it back to 
the tomb, singing certain psalms, and 
there laid it, with more psalmody. There 
it was watched till the night of Easter 
Sunday, by two, three, or more Monks, 
singing psalms. 1 After this followed 
the Communion. Every one sung 
Vespers, as Complin afterwards, si- 
lently, 111 in the manner of the Canons, 11 
in his place, after which they went to 
the Refectory. Other matters were as 



h This signified, that, when Christ gave up the 
Ghost, the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, 
and from that time all the Mosaic law, and arcana 
of the Jews, were manifested to the Gentiles. Rup. 
L. vi. Ch. xx. p. 965. 

1 1. Domine ne in furore. 2. Miserere mei 
Deus. 3. Miserere mei Deus meus. 4. Deus 
misereaturnostri. 5. Deus in Adjutorium. 6. In- 
clina, Domine. 7. De profundis. (Du Cange, v. 
Psabni.) 

k They bowed as low as possible at its approach, 
and then with extended arms took it, and kissed it. 
Aug. Sacr. 11.316. 

I Because our Lord rested that day in the tomb, 
and the Disciples passed all the following night in 
sorrow. Rup. Tuit. L. vi. Ch. xxii. p. 966. 

m Because the Apostles, after they had sung a 
hymn, and gone with Christ to the Mount of Olives, 
being oppressed with sorrow, were silent from the 
common praise. Therefore that deep silence was 
begun from Complin, because about that hour 
when our Lord said, " Behold, he is at hand who 
shall betray me," they began to be sorrowful, and 
slept from grief. Rup. Tuit. L. v. Ch. xxxii. § 
Cur boras sub silentio cantamus. 

II A dictate of Gregory in his Antiphonarium. 
Concord. Regul. p. 89. 



TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 



35 



usual; but upon any vacant time, after 
the veneration of the Cross, the officia- 
ting priests or boys shaved and bathed, 
if the Society was too large for it to be 
done on the morrow, Saturday. In 
the Chapter and elsewhere every thing 
was as usual, except that on these 
three days all matters in the Refectory 
were accompanied with benediction. a 

On the Sunday the same ceremony 
followed, as before described, respect- 
ing the Serpent,b with this difference : 
that after the consecration, two Aco- 
lytes held lights at the right and left 
horn of the Altar. A divine service 
followed, during which the Abbot and 
convent singing five Litanies, went to 
consecrate the Fonts ; c and upon their 



a Benedictions were taken from Moses. Deut. 
xxviii. Rab. Maur. de instit. Cler. L. ii. Ch. lv. 
p. 619. 

b It was carried before tbe Candidates for Bap- 
tism, because tbe fiery column preceded the Is- 
raelites to the Red Sea, which prefigured Baptism 
(Gemma Animee, p. 1281). By others it is said, 
our baptizates, their past sins being extinguished, 
are led to the Church, the taper preceding them, 
whence it is understood that it ought to be lighted 
for no other purpose in any place, except for ex- 
citing a recollection of the illumination of the Holy 
Spirit, whilst they are going to the Church ( Albinus 
de Div. Offic. p. 262). 

c There is a long account of this in the " Ordo 
Romanus de Divinis Officiis,'' pp. 80, 82 ; and a for- 
mula in MS. Bodl. Barl. VII. p. 32 : but I prefer 
giving matters more archaeological than ritual. 
The greater churches had rooms adjoining to them, 
in the middle of which was the Bason or Font, into 
which springs flowed by pipes and aqueducts often 
of the figure of stags, sometimes of lambs. We 
hear of Fonts of rich work, supported by twelve 
oxen, and " Ecce Agnus Dei" (Behold the Lamb of 
God) inscribed upon them. The Baptisteries had 
Oratories and Altars in them, and were adorned 
with various pictures : such as John baptizing our 
Lord, Peter, Cornelius, &c. There were also 
grottoes in the middle of church-yards, whence 
springs burst forth ; sometimes mere basons (Du 
Cange, v. Baptist erium, Deductorium, Agnus fun- 
dens aquam, Canthari Fons, Xymphcea.) See Ro- 
binson's History of Baptism. Of Luton Font, &c. 
&c. I decline speaking ; and proceed to matters 
connected with Baptism, but curious and little 
known. 

1st. of Godfathers. 

The Ordo Romanus, above quoted, orders God- 
fathers to hold the children in their right arms, 
while the priest said the baptismal prayers. Adults 
placed one foot upon that of the Godfather. A cake 
was given every year by the Sponsors, on the A T igil 
of Christmas-day, to the children, until they were 



■i return to the Altar, the Chantor cried 
| " Light " (accendite). All the Candles 
| were instantly lighted/ 1 the Abbot be- 
j ginning (e Glory to God on high," and 
I all the bells were rung. After this fol- 
I lowed a religious service, a Maundy 
and Complin, as above, 

On Easter-day the seven canonical 
hours were to be sung in the manner 
of the Canons ; and in the night before 
Mattins,the Sacrists [because our Lord 
rested in the tomb e ] were to put the 
Cross in its place. Then, during a re- 
ligious service, four Monks robed them- 
selves, one of whom in an alb, as if he 
had somewhat to do, came stealingly to 
the tomb, and there holding a palm 
branch, sat still, till the responsory was 
ended ; when the three others, carrying 
censers in their hands, came up to him, 



grown up (says Du Cange, v. Pompa ; whenever 
they asked a blessing. Cowell, v. Kichell.) Ruf- 
finus says, that he had a Godfather, who was to him 
both a teacher of the Creed and the Faith (Du 
Cange, v. Pater.) We hear of a Godfather sparing 
the life of a Godsonin battle, on account of that con- 
nexion (Chron. Sax. 58.) The presents of Apostle- 
spoons are well known. It was the custom formerly 
for one name to be given by the parents to children 
after birth, to which others were sometimes added 
in Baptism (Du Cange). The names were often 
given from vows of the parents to particular Saints 
— from relatives — from inclination— from their 
own names — but mostly from the first cause (M. 
Par. 97, 414, 480, 526, 575, 669. Rous, 204.) 
As to surnames, &c. it is not my intention to give 
extracts from Camden's Remains, Du Cange, v. 
Cognomen, &c. &c. Infants for eight days were 
clothed in white ; and in this dress they were 
brought to Church every day to be christened, on 
the Sabbath, at Easter, or Pentecost, with candles : 
at least this was the custom in some places (Du 
Cange, v. Capa). Baptism was delayed by the 
Anglo-Saxon kings and nobles, in order to indulge 
in plundering other countries ; nor were they often 
baptized till monastic retirement was resolved on 
(Scr. p. Bed. 192, 193). 

d Upon the principle of illuminations, it was uni- 
versally known, that the joy of the Church was 
signified by the light of tapers and lamps. Upon 
this particular occasion, " all the lights,'' says 
Amalarius [except the serpent taper, and another 
lighted from it] "remain extinguished till the last 
litany, which belongs to the office of the Mass of the 
Resurrection. Then the lights of the Church and 
newly baptized [who carried candles : see the pre- 
ceding note] are lighted, to show that the whole 
world was illuminated by the resurrection of Christ." 
De Ordine Antiphonarii, Ch. xliv. p. 541. 

e Rup. Tuit. L. vi, Ch. xxii. p. 996. 

D 2 



36 BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM EDGAR TO THE CONQUEST. 



step by step, as if looking for something. 
As soon as he saw them approach, he 
began singing in a soft voice (dulcisone), 
"Whom seek ye ?" to which was replied 
by the three others in chorus, " Jesus 
of Nazareth/' This was answered by 
the other, " He is not here, he is risen/' 
At which words, the three last, turning 
to the choir, cried, " Alleluia, the Lord 
is risen." The other then, as if calling 
them back, sung, " Come and see the 
place;" and then rising, raised the 
cloth, showed them the place with- 
out the Cross, and linen cloths in 
which it was wrapped. Upon this 
they laid down their censers, took the 
clothes, extended them to show that 
the Lord was risen, and singing an 
Antiphonar, placed them upon the Al- 
tar. The whole was concluded with 
suitable offices. "On these seven days," 
says Dunstan, " we do not sing." a 

From the Octaves of Easter, and all 
summer, after Mattins, there was an 
interval according to the Rule, and 
Lauds followed ; after which, if they 
were finished at day-break, as they 
ought to have been, the Monks left the 
Church, put on their shoes, washed, 
said their prayers, and sat in the clois- 
ter reading till Prime. If it was not 
day-break, the Prior, if willing, allowed 
them to go to bed again until morning, 
when they did as above during all 
summer, except Sundays and Festivals. 
After Prime, the Morning Mass and 
Chapter, they did what was to be done, 
till the first bell of Tierce rung. After 
this service they washed their hands 
and went to dinner. Having dined, 
they retired to bed till half-past two 
[the meridian, or sleep at noon, com- 
mon with all ranks, through the classical 
and middle ages b ], when the first bell 

* This has been before explained ; but Mattins 
were not said, like the hours, in silence, because the 
latter signified the presence of Christ's passion ; 
but the nightly vigils, the former times, in which 
the Prophets foretold the approaching sufferings of 
our Lord, "who were not killed silent," non ta- 
r-entes interfecti sunt. Rup. Tuit. L. v. Ch. xxxiii. 
p. 9o5. 

b The Romans went to sleep about 2 p.m. after 



of Nones rang, at which signal they 
arose, washed themselves, and sang the 
service. After this, the Biberes, or 
drinking followed ; and then they were 
to do what was necessary, for the re- 
maining hours were devoted to reading 
and silence ; as " from the first bell of 
the evening course^' there was no 
speaking till the conclusion of the 
Chapter on the morrow, c except in the 
Auditory [Locutory or Parlour], which 
was so named, " because there was to 
be heard what was ordered," not that 
idle talk was to be indulged there 
or elsewhere. Vigils for the dead, 
psalms for benefactors, and litanies be- 



bathing. Lubin. in Juven. p. 69. Nott's Catull. 
I. 88. XV. Script. 268. Scr. p. Bed. 408, b. 
Neubrig. L. i. Ch. 3 ; " writan in my sleeping time 
at afternone on Wytsonday." Paston Lett. III. 
282. 

6 This, and the concluding duties of private 
prayer, confession, and the evening prayer, obtained 
in all orders. Amalarius says, " Complin is so 
called because therein is completed the daily use of 
meat and drink, which is necessarily taken for sup- 
port of the body, or common conversation. Whence 
the custom is observed among the Monks, from the 
Benedictine rule, that, after that office, they are 
silent, and do those things which are foreign from 
common conversation, till they again return to 
their labours." (De Eccl. Offic. L. iii. Ch. viii. p. 
458.) Lan20, a Prior at Lewes, had never spoken 
after Complin since he became a Monk (Malmesb. 
Script. p. Bed. 97, a.) Among the Dominicans 
the direction is, " Ante completorium turn legatur 
lectio in hoc ' Fratres sobrii este ' " (/. e. the colla- 
tion), et facta confessione et Deo completorio det 
benedictionem, qui prseest, et Ebdomadarius asper- 
gat aquam benedictam (Deer. Lanfr. Ch. xiv.) et 
cantent fratres " Salve Regina" (MS.Cott. Tvero A. 
12, Const. Fratr.j ; i. e. Before Complin, let the 
reading be in this, "Brothers, be sober;" and 
after confession and Complin, let the presiding 
officer give the benediction, the minister of the 
week sprinkle the Friars with holy water, and the 
Brethren sing, " Hail, Queen, blessed mother of 
our Lord." This Salve Regina (though among the 
Friars, as above, the prayer was different at different 
seasons), which Davies calls the Salvi, was, says 
Du Cange (m voce), the sequence which Peter 
Bishop of Compostella composed, though in 
another place he denominates it the Antiphona de 
Podio, because made by Audemar Bishop of Podia 
(hi voce : perhaps a correction of the Benedictine 
editors, unless it alluded to its being sung de Podio, 
part of the seat called Misericord). Jordan, a ge- 
neral of the Dominicans, introduced it about 1266 
(Hospinian de orig. et progressu Monachor. p. 393). 
However, it was a Gaudium, or common song (Du 
Cange, v. Gaudia), especially sung by beggars at 
people's doors, (Hawk. Music, II. 89.) 



THE RULE OF FULGENTIUS. 



37 



fore Mass, were then omitted, because 
there was no genuflection on account 
of the Resurrection. At the Calends 
of November, the Vigil [Mattins of 
the dead] was done after Mattins, 
which, through the short days, could 
not be done on the evening, except 
on the Festivals, in which the brothers 
were to sup. Then, after supper, they 
performed the Vigil, the officiating mi- 
nisters supping in the interim, that, 
afterwards, according to the Rule, all 
might meet at collation. This order 
respecting the Vigil was to be observed 
till the beginning of Lent ; and then, 
and during the whole summer, it Avas 
to be said after supper, or if there was 
none, after Vespers. 

The Sabbath was the general clean- 
ing day ; oiling of shoes, washing of 
clothes, &c. ; and no one was to omit 
his duty at divine service, or do any 
thing without leave of the Prior. 

All these customs, though Anglo- 
Saxon as to us, but really foreign in 
origin, subsisted till the dissolution, 
rather enlarged than mutilated by sub- 
sequent repetitional institutes. 8 

APPENDIX. 

The Rule of Fulgentius. — {Latin 
and Anglo-Saxon — MS. Bodl. Archiv. 
Seld. D. 52.) 

1. Introduction. 

2. From the calends of October to 
Easter, at the ninth hour, till Tierce, 
eleventh hour, and at all times in the 
Church, silence. 

3. Seniors to call the Juniors breth- 
ren; the Juniors to call the Seniors 
Nonnos [equivalent to Uncle] ; the Ab- 
bot Dominus or Pater. 

4. To use no oath, but crede mild 
(believe me), or plane (evidently), or 
certe (surely). 

5. Voluntary penitence. 

6. Obedience. 

a See MS. Bodl. Barlow, 7 ; where all the for- 
mulae of Passion week, &c. ; but the affirmation is 
proved by Green's Worcester, I. 127, Davies, 
Anglia Saera, &c. 



7- Juniors to say to the Prior and 
Seniors Benedicite, whenever they met 
them, and to rise from their seats when 
a senior passed. 

8. The punishment of envy, malice, 
&c. 

9. To address the Abbot and Se- 
niors with Benedicite on going, or re- 
turning, from the Convent, beginning 
any work, &c. [To be deprived of the 
Benediction among the Monks was to 
be sent to Coventry. Du Cange, v. 
Benedictio.] 

10. Voluntary acknowledgment of 
faults on losing or breaking anything 
in the refectory, kitchen, cellar, or other 
place; prostration upon the ground, and 
holding the thing broken in the hand. 

11. To beware of laughter and fre- 
quent conversation with friends or re- 
latives ; not to speak with any one 
alone, but in the presence of others. 

12. To go in the house only where 
ordered. 

13. To speak low. 

14. To do no work without permis- 
sion or benediction of the prior. 

15. To give or receive nothing with- 
out the Abbot's permission, and to have 
nothing of their own but what he al- 
lowed. 

16. To have no more of meat, drink, 
or clothes than the rule allowed. 

17. Not to return to past vices. 

18. Seniors to correct small faults 
by private reprimand, large ones from 
the rule. 

19. To be lenient and cautious in 
correction. 

20. To recur to confession for wicked 
thoughts. 

2 1 . To converse humbly among them- 
selves. 

22. To attend the Church at the ca- 
nonical hour, on the bell ringing. 

23. Not to be contentious. 

24. Not to eat or drink but at stated 
times, the sick and infants excepted. 

25. Not to calumniate, or notice 
those who did. 

26. To preserve peace. 

27. To shun saccular gossiping (fa- 
bulas). 



88 



THE RULE OF FULGENTIUS. 



28. To attend to manual labour at 
the stated times. 

29. At other times to read silently 
in the Cloister. 

30. In summer time, after dinner, to 
retire to bed, or to read. 

31. No Monk to call anything his 
own, but always our, except in faults, 
then my. 

32. Instant obedience to the Abbot's 
commands. 

33. Unison in the Choir. 

34. When the hour of refection came, 
after the service was ended, to wait in 
the Church silently psalmodizing (ta- 
cites psallentes). [The Monks do not 
seem to have understood the real He- 
brew meaning of Psallo, which is to 
sing to an instrument. All other ac- 
ceptations of the word are corrup- 
tions.] 

35. At the sound of the bell, having 
washed their hands, to enter the re- 
fectory, saluting the Cross and look- 
ing to the East. 

36. At the second sound of the bell, 
all together to say the verse and the 
Lord^s Prayer, kneeling. 

37. At the Benediction given by the 
Prior, all to sit in their seats in or- 
der. 

38. No one to take any meat or 
drink before the Abbot. 

39. Each Monk upon taking the 
first bread, and first draught of drink, 
to say Benedicite to his companion, 
who was to answer Deus. 

40. The reader first to ask for the 



Benediction before the Monks began 
to eat. 

41. The Prior to bless the meat or 
drink standing. [Thus Grace was said 
over liquid food. One Anglo-Saxon 
grace before dinner was by signing the 
dish with a Cross. Eddius in XV 
Script, p. 77. The form used by the 
Clergy in this age is in Alcuini Poemata, 
146. Du Cange, v. Benedictio. See 
the preceding remarks upon the Psal- 
ter.'] 

42. The Monks to take apples or 
fruit as divided by the Cellarer, equally, 
whether at dinner or supper ; and they 
were to be eaten immediately after 
other food, at a side table. The read- 
ing to cease at the termination of the 
meal. 

43. Upon leaving the table after a 
verse was said, the left Choir go out 
first, the Abbot last, singing the 50th 
Psalm ; and upon entering the Church 
to incline themselves and kneel to the 
glory. 

44. After Vespers to meet in the 
evening Chapter, and read. 

45. The reading over all to rise at 
once, and the Abbot to say, " Adjuto- 
rium nostrum;" and the rest to an- 
swer, i£ Who made Heaven and Earth." 

46. Complin. 

47. Silence, prayer, retrospect (re- 
cordatio) of sins. 

48. The evening prayer. 

49. Caution and care in the Church 
and Dormitory. 

50. To remember and con the Rule. 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST. 



39 



CHAPTER V. 

BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE 

DISSOLUTION. 



After the year 1077; on account of 
failure in the observance of Dunstan's 
Concord of Rules, through the conse- 
quences of Danish Invasions, Lanfranc, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, found it 
necessary to issue new institutes. a 
Matthew Paris says, that the Church 
of St. Alban^s became the school of 
discipline and pattern of the rule, 
through all England ; because Paul, 
the fourteenth Abbot, had brought with 
him the decrees of Lanfranc.b These, 
Reyner says (erroneously), were pre- 
vented from taking firm root by the 
peculiar circumstances under which 
the Norman Kings reigned in this 
country. To remedy this defect of 
influence in the decrees of Lanfranc, a 
synod of Lateran issued emendatory 
statutes in the year 1215. Upon the 
superannuation of these, Benedict the 
Xllth, in the fourteenth century, pub- 
lished constitutions which biassed Mo- 
nachism till the Dissolution. These 
are printed in Wilkins's Councils (Vol. 
ii.) As the two last codes are more 
visitatorial than novel, the Anglo-Mo- 
nastic Consuetudinal is rather to be 
sought in the institutes of Dunstan and 
Lanfranc, which the most indubitable 
evidence attests to have subsisted till 
the Dissolution, with few or no varia- 
tions of moment. 

ORDINARY OF THE WHOLE YEAR, OR 
DECRETALS OF LANFRANC. 

From October to Advent, 

On private days, till All Saints 5 Day, 
Nov. 30, the Monks were to return to 

a Reyner, p. 208. b p. 1001. 

c The Paschal, the Maundy, the Burial service, 
&c. &c. are all included in Davies's Rites and 
Monuments of the Church of Durham, published 
after the Dissolution. 



their beds after Mattins ; and at clay- 
break,the brethren in their night-clothes, 
and infants d and youths e with their 
candles, were to come to the Church, 
sing Prime, and afterwards sit in the 
Cloister. The boys were " first to read 
loudly " (primitus altt legant), and af- 
terwards, if necessary, sing; and be- 
fore they read, no one was to read or 
sing in the Cloister, except silently, or 
go to confession. Before the warning 
bell of Tierce, no one was to put on 
his day-clothes except officers engaged 
out of the Cloister ; nor they, before 
they had sat there and waited till the 
children had first read. When Tierce 
approached, the Sacrist was to ring a 
small bell, and the Monks to go to the 
Dormitory-, to put on their day-shoes/ 
and take their knives ;S and from thence 
to the Lavatory, 11 where they were to 
wash and comb themselves ; and then, 
coming to the Church, take holy water, 



d All under fifteen years of age. Fuller's Church 
Hist. B. vi. 289. 

e All under twenty, I infer, from Reyner, Ap= 
pend. 165. 

I See §§ Chamberlain, Vestiary. 

s Every Monk had a table-book, knife, needle, 
and handkerchief; and they slept without their 
knives for fear of injury (Reg. Bened. Ch. lv. Ful- 
ler, ubi supr. p. 288). Men used to carry needle- 
cases (cylindrical and hooped) about their persons, 
to mend their clothes when necessary. The Beau 
of the fifteenth century, just risen in the morning, 
before he has completed his dress, is represented as 
taking a needle from his needle-case on purpose to 
sew or baste his sleeves. Stxutt's Dresses, 11.292, 
and plate cxxxii. As Acta is sewing thread, and 
Aciarium a needle case, in Du Cange, probably the 
former was included. The needle, according to 
Cbaucer, was of silver, resembling probably a bod- 
kin ; but, as tbe Encyclopaedic des Antiquitcs, by 
the way, says, that no needle of the classical age 
has ever been found, it is fit to note, that one exists 
in the Hamilton Collection at the British Museum. 
See the Catalogue for Visitors. 

II Described in § Cloister. 



40 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



and lie prostrate a till the children came. 
When these were washed, and began 
to comb themselves, the greater bell 
was to ring for the hour, and the 
infants to come and take holy water. 
The bell was then to cease, and all to- 
gether to begin the triple prayer. After 
this the smaller bell was to ring, and 
Tierce commence ; and when the psalm 
Miserere was begun, they were to rise 
for the celebration of Mass, make their 
antl and retro h (a bow to the Altar first 
ante, and to the Abbot at the bottom of 
the choir 7 % etro), and go to clothe them- 
selves. After the Mass they were all 
to sit in the Choir, except some Con- 
verts, who were to assist the Priest, 
and those who served at Mass ; and, 
when they had done this, return to the 
Choir. Then, at the Abbot's order, 
the Prior was to ring the least bell, 
and they were to go to the Chapter, 
two and two, according to seniority, 
the children last. After the Chapter, 
the table being struck, the Abbot or 
Prior was to say Benedicite, and the 
Monks to converse in the Cloister, and 
the infants hold their Chapter, and af- 
terwards go to the refectory. After 
Sext, no one was to speak in the 



» There were psahni prostrati, those said on the 
ground, the same as the penitential. Du Cange. 
See further on. 

b The ante and retro was a method of bowing 
among the Monks when they entered or left the 
choir, so contrived, that the back was lower than 
the loins, and the head than the back. Du Cange, 
in voce. 

c Persons who entered into religion late in life, 
and Lay-brothers, were both called Converts (Du 
Cange, v. Conversi.) " In the Lanthorn, called 
the New Work," says Davies, " hung three fine 
bells, rung always at twelve o'clock at night, the 
Monks going to Mattins at that hour. Four men 
were appointed to ring these bells at midnight, and 
at such times of the day as the Monks went to 
serve God. Two of the said men belonged to the 
Mevestry, and kept the copes, the vestments, and 
five pair of silver censers, with the other ornaments 
pertaining to the High Altar, and lay in a chamber 
over the west end of the Revestry. The other two 
men lay in a chamber in the North Alley, over 
against the Sacrist's Exchequer : they swept and 
kept the Church clean, and filled the holy water 
stones every Sunday morning with elean water be- 
fore it was hallowed, and locked the Church-doors 
every night." 



Cloister till the children had gone from 
the Church, and the youngest said 
" Benedicite/' Then, after a space, 
during the ringing of the skilla d for 
warning of Mass, and the signum^ for 
Mass, while the preparatory prayer 
and a litany was performed by a child, 
the officiating ministers were to robe 
themselves. On Wednesdays and Fri- 
days, 6 if after Sext and before Mass, 
there was to be a procession through 
the Cloister, the Sacrist was to omit 
the Mass-bell, and ring another when 
the time of procession approached ; 
and upon this there was to be instant 
silence in the cloister. They were to 
unshoe themselves, wash their hands, 
go to the procession, after Mass say a 
prayer, the hebdomadaries of the kitchen 
and reader of the table to take mixtxis, 
and those absent from Mass through the 
business of the house, with the Abbot's 
or Prior's consent, to have bread and 
beer ; the others in the interim sitting 
in the choir, and those who chose it 
reading. Upon the return of the ser- 
vants to the choir the bell was to be 
rung, Nones to be celebrated; and, 
this concluded, the Prior to go to strike 
the cymbalum / and the hebdomada- 
ries of the kitchen, and others, to their 
respective offices. 

d The names of bells. See Spelman's Gloss, v. 
Campana. 

e On the calends of November, at midnight, they 
were to sit in the choir ; the children with their 
lights to remain with their masters in the Chapter 
singing ; or if they rose in the depth of night to 
rest, " jacentes ad sedilia sua," lying at their seats. 
At this interval, the Prior, with a dark lantern, was 
to go through the choir, to see how regularly they 
sat ; afterwards through the altars, and parts of the 
Church, lest any one should be asleep there. If 
any one was praying, he was to pass him by in si- 
lence ; if asleep, to awake him, and, by a sign, order 
him to return to the choir. Then he was to 
go through the Chapter, and see how the masters 
and scholars behaved. Then were to follow Mat- 
tins and Prime ; at the former of which, the Sacrist 
was to take care so to arrange the hour of Lauds, 
that all should be finished by day-break ; but if he 
was mistaken, and there was any darkness after the 
Litany, the Monks were so to manage as above di- 
rected, that none but the minuti (those who had 
been bled) should return to bed. At daybreak 
they were to sit in the cloister. 

f The name of a bell. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



41 



Festivals between October and Advent 
how observed. 

All Saints. The devout visited all 
the Altars of the Churchy and required 
the suffrages of all the Saints. a 

All Souls was to be passed in devo- 
tions for diminishing the pains of the 
souls in purgatory . b 

§ From Advent to Lent. 

On the Sunday preceding Advent a 
sermon was to be preached in the Chap- 
ter. On the Vigil of St. Thomas the 
Apostle, if it was a Sunday, the Monks 
were to be shaved ; and those who 
wished to bathe so manage that two 
days before Christmas they might all 
be bathed. If necessary they might do 
this on the above Saint's day. The 
day before, the Abbot or keeper of the 
order was to appoint a Senior, whose 
office was to give the Monks notice of 
the time, see how they behaved, observe 
whether matters were duly prepared, 
see that the servants were men ad- 
vanced in years, and give notice, if 
any thing was amiss, to the Chamber- 
lain. After this he was to return to 
the Cloister, inform the Monks, and 
take care that the Juniors and Novices 
did not go with the Seniors. The 
Monks appointed, after they were 
shaved, taking the fresh clothes they 
were to put on, were to go to the place 
appointed for bathing, and there strip- 
ping, as in the Dormitory, enter every 
one where he was told, and putting- 
aside the curtain, which hung before 
them, sit silent. If they wanted any- 
thing they were to make a sign to the 
servant, who was to lift the curtain, 
give it them, and instantly retire. They 
were to stay no longer than till they 
were washed, and having put on their 
shoes, and washed their hands, to return 
to the Cloister. The children were to go, 
and return with their masters. The 
Monks might bathe at all hours from 
Prime to Complin, but no one without 
leave of the superintending Monk. 



» Gold. Leg. cclxxxxix, 



Id. ccii. 



Festivals between Advent and Christmas 
how observed. 

Of St, Catherine's and St, Clement's 
days, see Strut t. c 

The Boy-bishop was elected on St. 
Nicholas's day, December 6. It is too 
well known to say more of it.' 1 

St. Thomas's Day. On this day, 
called Mumping-day, the poor in Here- 
fordshire go around the parishes, beg- 
ging corn, &c. Mumpers, in an old 
Dictionary, are "gentile beggars." 
Mumping is making mouths (see Cot- 
grave, v. Mourd) ; and in the English 
Plutarch's Morals, III. 116, we have 
"mercenary Gypsies, and mumping 
Charlatans." Gypsies in Plutarch ! 

On Christmas day, after the Morning 
Mass, the bell of Chapter was to be 
rung later than usual ; that, laying 
aside all occupations, they might as- 
semble at Chapter, and when the Nati- 
vity was announced, fall prostrate on 
the ground. e Upon the President of the 
Chapter (an unfixed officer) having 
finished his prayer, the Gospel was to be 
read, and a Sermon preached upon it. 

On the night of Christmas day, after 
Mattins of All Saints at the Altar of St. 
Mary, they were to repair to the Dor- 
mitory. The Monks robed to celebrate, 
were to go to an excellent fire, pre- 
pared by the Chamberlain's servants, 
and have materials for washing their 
hands. For this time only they were 
to comb their heads before they washed. 
Afterwards they were to celebrate Mass. 
This and some private Masses finished, 
they returned to bed ; and, on the bell 
ringing at day-break, all were to rise; 
and those who were to celebrate, to 
wash their hands and faces, and robe 
themselves. When the Mass was over, 
the Monks were to go to the Dormitory 
to put on their shoes, and afterwards, 
having washed, to say the usual three 
prayers, and make a procession. 

c Sports, &c. p. 270. 

d See Brand's Popular Antiquities, 4to. &c. 

e From the Shepherds at the angelic vision, in 
the Gospel of St. Luke, who in old prints lie 
prostrate. 



42 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



FESTIVALS OBSERVED UPON CHRIST- 
MAS DAY. 

After the nocturnal office of Christ- 
mas (i. e. the Vigil), was celebrated at 
Rouen, and probably here, the 

Office of the Shepherds. 

After the Te Deum a stable was pre- 
pared behind the Altar, and the image 
of the Virgin Mary placed in it. A boy 
from above, before the choir, in the 
likeness of an angel, announced the 
Nativity to certain Canons, or Vicars, 
who entered, as shepherds, through the 
great door of the Choir, clothed in tu- 
nicks and amesses. Many boys in the 
vaults of the Church, like angels, then 
began the Gloria in excelsis. The 
shepherds, hearing this, advanced to 
the stable, singing Peace, Goodwill, Sfc. 
As soon as they entered it, two Priests 
in dalmaticks, as if midwives (quasi 
obstetrices), who were stationed at the 
stable, said, " Whom seek ye ? "' The 
shepherds answered, " Our Saviour 
Christ," according to the angelick an- 
nunciation. The Midwives, then open- 
ing the curtain, exhibited the boy, say- 
ing, " The little one is here, as the 
Prophet Isaiah said." Then they 
shewed the mother, saying, " Behold 
the Virgin," &c. Upon these exhibi- 
tions they bowed and worshipped the 
boy, and saluted his mother. The 
office ended by their returning to the 
choir, and singing Alleluia, &c. Du 
Cange, v. Past or um Officium. 

Upon Christmas-day was also cele- 
brated a Feast of Asses (there being 
more than one feast so called, as will 
appear hereafter), which Mr. Warton 
mentions, as obtaining among our- 
selves; and his account, so far as it 
goes, corresponds with the following, 
complete, except the prayers. (Hist. 
Poetry, I. 249.) 

After Tierce the Prophets were dres- 
sed according to order, and a furnace 
was prepared in the nave of the Church 
with linen and towi A procession then 



moved from the Cloister, and two clerks 
in copes from the second seat, directed 
the procession, singing verses, which 
were repeated by a chorus. 

Clerks. Of the glorious and famous. 

Chorus. Glorious. 

Clerks. Whose birth. 

Chorus. Glorious. 

Clerks. Who was about to be. 

Chorus. Glorious. 

Clerks. Of the impious Jews. 

Chorus. Glorious. 

Clerks. But the Jews. 

Chorus. Glorious. 

Cle?*ks. To unbelieving Israel. 

Chorus. Glorious. 

Clerks. From whence the Gentiles. 

The procession then stopped in the 
middle of the Church, and six Jews 
were ready on one side, and six Gen- 
tiles on the other. The latter then 
demanded the Vocatores, or Callers. 
All the Gentiles said, "The Lord is 
made man." Here the Callers turned 
themselves to the Jews, and said, 

Vocatores. " Oh, Jews ! the word 
of God. Your laws prove it/' 

Jews. That we are to govern you. 

Vocatores. (to the Gentiles) a And 
you unbelieving Gentiles." 

Gentiles. The true King, King of 
Kings. 

Vocatores. " Call Moses first — you 
Moses, the Legislator." Then Moses, 
holding the tables of the law open, 
clothed in an alb and cope, and a horned 
forehead, bearded, with a rod in his 
hand, advanced and spoke ; after which 
he was led beyond the cauldron. He 
was followed by 

Amos, an old man bearded, carrying 
a wheat-ear. 

Isaiah, bearded, with a red stole 
across his forehead. 

Aaron, in a mitre and pontificals, 
holding a flower. 

Jeremiah, bearded, robed like a priest, 
and holding a roll. 

Daniel, clothed in a green tunick, 
having a juvenile aspect, and carrying 
a wheat-ear. 

Habakkuk, a lame old man, in a dal- 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



43 



matick, with a scrip full of radishes, 
which he ate, while he spoke, and long 
palms to strike the Gentiles. 

Balaam, dressed up, sitting upon an 
ass (whence the name of the feast), 
spurred (very large ones, says Warton), 
holding the reins, and spurring the 
Ass, which a young man with a sword 
opposes. Some one under the Ass 
then says, " Why do ye hurt me so 
with your spurs )" the young man then 
added, " Do not comply with the com- 
mand of Balak." 

Callers. "Balaam, Balaam, pro- 
phesy." This he did, and was followed 
by 

Samuel, clothed religiously. 

David, in royal robes. 

Osea, a man with a beard. 

Joel, dressed in parti-colours, and 
bearded. 

Abdias, dressed as Joel. 

Jonas, bald, dressed in white. 

Micah, dressed as Joel. 

Naum, an old man. 

Sophonias, bearded. 

Aggai, an old man, or marked as 
such (senilem vultum gerens). 

Zacharius, bearded. 

Ezehel \^r Q distinction specified. 

Malachi J 

Zacharias, dressed as a Jew, husband 
of 

Elizabeth, like a pregnant woman. 

John the Baptist, barefooted, holding 
the Bible. 

Symeon, an old man. 

Virgil, a well-dressed young man. 
[Mr. Warton says, that he spoke Monk- 
ish verses. Here they are, " Eccepolo 
demissa solo."] 

Here the ceremony was interrupted 
by the appearance of Nebuchadnezzar, 
dressed like a King, showing an image 
of two armed men, whom he orders to 
exhibit the image to three youths. 
They refuse to worship it, and make a 
reply of "Deo soli digno coli" (God 
alone is worthy to be worshipped). 
The armed men then led them to the 
cauldron, and after being placed upon 
it, it is lighted ; but the youths are 



immediately liberated, to the astonish- 
ment of the King. The calling, and 
replies, recommence with the Sibyll, 
crowned and dressed like a woman. 
All the Prophets and Ministers then 
began a chaunt, with which the feast 
ended. Du Cange, v. Festum Asino- 
rum, 

The custom of ornamenting the 
Church with boughs is variously ex- 
plained, but founded upon Evergreens.* 
In the West of England, the Churches 
are dressed at Whitsuntide with deci- 
duous boughs. b It seems, from the ear- 
liest seras, to be no more than a com- 
mon token of rejoicing, to carry or 
exhibit branches of trees ; and there- 
fore the explications are not satisfac- 
tory. The twelve days of Christmas 
were kept with great festivity, and 
without limitation of meals or habits. 
In the Legend of St. Brandon, Judas, 
on his island of remission, says, " Of 
ryght my place is in the brennyng 
helle. But I am here but certeyne 
tymes of the yere, yt is, fro crystmasse 
to twelfth daye; and fro ester to whyt- 
sontide be past, and every festeful daye 
of our lady, and every satyrday none 
tyll sonday ye evening ben don. But 
all other tymes I lye still in Helle in 
full brennynge fire with pylate, herode, 
and cayaphas." The fifty days from 
Easter to Pentecost, were rejoicing 
seasons from memory of the Resurrec- 
tion^ A brother of the order of the 
Temple of Syon, writing to Sir 
John Paston, says, " in which place 
(Temple of Syon) in this season of 
the year (Christmas) it is accustomed 
to be (have) all manner of disport ;" e 
and what this disport was, may be seen 
fully in Mr. Nichols's Progresses, the 
Antiquitates Vulgares, and Strutt's 
Sports. Homicides and traitors were, 
at Christmas, indulged with peace and 



a Antiq. Vulgar. Strutt, &c. &c. 
b Flowers and Roses have been used upon the 
vigils of Saints' days. Du Cange, v. Galia. 
c Gold. Leg. fol. ccxxxii. 
a Fuller's Church Hist. B. vi. 288. 
e Pastoa Letters, III, 422, 433, 



44 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



joy. a Ships sailed only with the fore- 
mast, in honour of the season. 13 Barons 
then gave their annual new clothes to 
domestics, and feasted the whole 
country. A whole boar (whence brawn 
at this season) was put on the table, 
sometimes richly gilded. d — Without 
entering into well-known matters, it 
may be worth while to explain hvo cu- 
rious customs. Andrews and others 
note, that Christmas was represented 
by an old man, hung round with savory 
dainties. It escaped the recondite Mr. 
Douce, in his elegant Illustrations of 
Fools and Clowns, that the Bauble is a 
Phallus, actually represented in Bois- 
sard (and Montfaucon, vol. I. p. 2, b.i. 
ch. 28) in a woman's hand ; and that 
the Cock's head, Ass's head, fyc. are re- 
licks of the Priapeia. In the same 
manner, this old man of Andrews is 
the Priapus of Petronius, e made by 
the baker, who held in a very large bo- 
som all kind of apples and grapes. 

Tire-lire is the only French for 
Christmas-box, or money-box cleft on 
the side. Conceding that the benefac- 
tions originally were for servants, to 
procure masses for their souls, at 
this season of joy, Count Caylus gives 
a tire-lire of pottery, found under 
Mount Ceelius at Rome, with another 
of similar proportions ; and exhibiting 
Ceres seated between two figures, stand- 
ing. The other, much more finished, 
has a head of Hercules/ 

On the three following festivals of 
Stephen, John the Apostle,^ and Inno- 
cents,^ the Church was to remain orna- 
mented, as at Christmas ; the bells to 
be rung, and candles lighted} 1 with 
all other ceremonies usual on double 
feasts, and of the second rank. 1 

a M. Paris, 104. b Du Cange, v. Trinchetum. 

e M. Par. 604. X Script. 2727. 

d Smythe's Berlceleys, MS. 

c I. 306, ed. Nodot. i Rec. III. pi. liii. 

« See Strutt, and Antiq. Vulgar, of the popular 
customs on these days. 

h There were certain feasts, called Feasts of 
Candles, on which candles were lighted, as Christ- 
mas, St. John, Stephen, Innocents, the Circumci- 
sion, &c. ; but there were limitations of the lights 
at some of the hours. Du Cange, v. Festum. 

* This was a gradation made according to the 



The Refectory was to be unorna- 
mented on the fifth day of Christmas. 
On the Morrow after the Circumcision, 
after Lauds and Mattins, they were to 
return to their beds, and do so till the 
octaves of the Epiphany, unless it was 
a feast of twelve lessons. k On the Vi- 
gil of the Epiphany, there was to be no 
fast, nor procession, unless it was a 
Sunday ; but at Vespers, Antiphonars 
and Psalms were to be sung till the 
evening Chapter, as at Christmas. 

Mummeries observed at or about 
this Season. 

The chief of these was the celebrated 
Feast of the Calends, called by us the 
Feast of Fools ; x which, though so far 
familiar, as Strntt's pleasing work upon 
Sports has communicated to the pub- 
lick, is yet too curious not to be de- 
tailed from more recondite sources. 

FEAST OF FOOLS, &C. 

Peter Gregorius, upon the authority 
of the Canonical and Civil Laws, lays 
it down as an axiom, that every time 
has its own manners, to which the 
laws are to be accommodated; 111 and 
therefore, we are not to wonder, that 



several merits of the Saints, &c. of which there is a 
full explanation in Durandi Rationale, L. vii. ch. 
i. ; and a liturgical solution in Du Cange, v. Festum. 
A list and classification of these feasts is in the 
Portiforium sec. Usum Sarum. fol. cxi. 

There were some festivals on which work was al- 
lowed. See Lyndw. (Ch. de Feriis) ; but on the 
others transgressors were to stand for three Sun- 
days in their shirts and breeches before the Altar. 
In some statutes the rich paid five shillings to the 
lights of the Church ; and the poor followed the 
procession for five Sundays, in a shirt and breeches, 
having upon their necks the instrument with which 
they worked. The festival of the next week was 
given out by the Deacon after communion on the 
Sunday. Du Cange, v. Festum. 

k One in which twelve lessons were read. Du 
Cange. Amalarius (L. ii. ch. i. 2, p. 374.) says, 
that lessons were anciently read in Greek and La- 
tin, from the congregation consisting of both na- 
tions ; and assigns other unsupported explana- 
tions. 

1 Cowell (v. Caput anni) confines it to New 
Year's day. 

u » De Republ. L. x. ch. v. n. 10. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



45 



the Saturnalia were ingrafted into Ec- 
clesiastical ceremonies, though it was 
admitted that all idolatrous customs 
were mere inventions of the Devil, the 
Monkey and Fool, ivhom the Almighty 
kept for his amusement.* Epicurus re- 
commended princes, who were lovers 
of the Muses, to entertain themselves 
with the scurrilities of drolls and buf- 
foons ; and when the slaves celebrated 
the Saturnalia the din was intolerable. 13 
Lucian brings in Saturn, speaking thus : 
" During my whole reign no public or 
private business is to be done; but 
only to drink, sing, play, create imagi- 
nary kings, place servants with their 
masters at table, smut them with soot, 
or make them leap into the water with 
head foremost, when they do not per- 
form their duty well." These con- 
formities to the Feast of Fools, indis- 
putably prove its just appropriation to 
the Saturnalia; both terminating in 
the innocent exhibition of Twelfth-day, 
and its King and Queen of the Bean, 
Cake, &c. 

In the Calends of January it was 
usual for the sexes to change dress, 
even assume the form of beasts ; d and 
the custom was so prevalent, that it 
could not be suppressed by Bishops, 
Councils, &c. Fasts and Litanies were 
prescribed to take off the guilt ; but 
even when the laity had left it off, the 
Clergy still retained it. Hence came 
the term Feasts of Sub-deacons, not 
because they were kept by that body 
of men in particular, but because Dia- 
cres sauols signified " Saturi Diaconi," 
drunken clerks.e Belethus says, "the 
Feast of Sub-deacons, which we call of 
Fools, is performed by some on the 
Circumcision, by others on the Epi- 



a A Diabolo summi Dei simia et iraprobo his- 
trione excogitata. Solorzanus de Indiar. Jure, 'p. 
110, § 94. This version has been blamed, but 
Mstrio is the word used, and being coupled with 
simia, vindicates tbe presumed meaning. 

b Plutarch de volupt. sec. Epicurum. 

c Danet, v. Saturnalia. 

d Du Cange, v. Cervelus. 

e Mr. Douce (Archaeologia, XV. 227) disputes 
tbis etymon of Du Cange. 



phany or its octaves. But there are 
four (sic) sports of Ecclesiasticks in 
the Church after Christmas, of the 
Priests, of the Boys, i. e. Juniors in 
age and order, and the Sub-deacon, 
which is an uncertain rank ; whence it 
happens that this rank is sometimes 
accounted a holy order and sometimes 
not, which is expressly signified by 
this : that it has no fixed period, and 
is celebrated in a confused manner."* 
Now as the injunction quoted in the 
article Friars, that these religious 
should not, on St. Nicholases day (the 
exhibition not being limited to a par- 
ticular day),? put on masquerade, even 
female habits, or lend theirs to seculars 
for that purpose, certainly alludes to a 
Feast of Fools, there is no reason to 
admit any other acceptation than that 
of actual Sub-deacons. This folly of 
Bishops, or rather of Clerks, seems to 
have been taken from the Greeks; 
among whom some of the Laymen, 
who altered their hair into the form of 
a tonsure, and took ecclesiastick gar- 
ments, made mock elections, promo- 
tions, consecrations, &c. ; sometimes 
sharp calumnies and depositions of 
Bishops. From a passage of Anasta- 
sius upon this subject, it appears that 
these mockeries were not then known 
in the West. 

Because, therefore, this feast took 
place about the end of December, 
it was called " Libertas Decembr'icaP 
Belethus, who lived in 1182, says, 
there are some Churches in which it is 
common that even Bishops and Arch- 
bishops should play with their sub- 
jects in Monasteries at the game of ball 
[the equality of the Saturnalia] ; and 
indeed this libertyis therefore called 
the liberty of December ; because, for- 
merly, it was the custom among the 
Gentiles ; and in this month, the slaves, 
and maid servants, and shepherds, were 
privileged with a kind of liberty, and 
put in the same condition with their 



Divin. Omc. Explicat. Ch. lxxii. 
Strutt's Gliggamena, 260. 



46 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



masters, making common feasts after 
the celebration of Harvests [the Reader 
will recollect the modern Harvest-home] . 
But although the great Churches, as that 
of Rheims, observed this custom of 
playing, it seems more laudable not to 
play. a [A King of Fools was prohibited 
at Beverley in 1391.] 

On the 17th of December (con- 
tinues Du Cange) all the petty clerks 
assembled to elect an Abbot of Fools ; 
upon whose election a Te Hewn was 
sung, and then he was chaired upon 
the shoulders of his fellows, and 
taken to the house where the rest were 
assembled to drink ; and put in a place 
especially ordered and prepared for 
this purpose. At his entrance all rose, 
even the Lord Bishop, if he were pre- 
sent ; and due reverence being paid to 
the elect by his fellows and companions, 
fruit, spices, wine, &c. were given to 
him. The drink being taken, the same 
Abbot, or elder Sub-chanter in his ab- 
sence, began singing in a ludicrous 
manner, with bawling, hissing, howl- 
ing, laughing, clapping hands ; each 
party endeavouring to conquer the 
other. A short dialogue afterwards 
was followed by a sermon from the 
Porter. The Abbot and others then 
rushed out of the Church, followed by 
the younger Canons, Choristers, and 
Bishop's Esquires, into the City, sa- 
luting every body whom they met. 
In this visit, which lasted every day to 
the Vigil of Christmas in the evening, 
the Abbot was to wear a dress, feather, 
and mantle or tabard, or cope, with a 
hood of vair. b [Sir S. R. Meyrick now 
possesses, by bequest of Mr. Douce, a 
girdle, reported to have been worn by the 
Abbot of Fools upon his entrance into 
office. It consists of 35 square pieces 
of wood, let into each other, upon 
which are carved ludicrous and gro- 
tesque figures of fools, tumblers, hunts- 
men, animals, and indecent representa- 
tions. ] Very probably also the indeco- 
rous carvings upon the stalls of Churches 



a Du Cange, v. Kalenda. 
c Archseol. ubi supra. 



b Ibid. 



have, in reality, an allusion to this fes- 
tival; for certain it is, that several 
carvings on stone in Anglo-Saxon 
Churches of a bizarre kind, allude to 
the mummeries of our ancestors. 

It was the Abbot's place, if any thing 
indecorous was done in the Choir, 
to correct and chastise it. 

On the Feast of Innocents, a Fool 
Bishop was elected in the same manner 
as the Abbot of Fools ; and afterwards 
lifted up by the petty clerks, and, with 
a little bell before him, taken to the 
house of the Bishop, at whose arrival, 
the gates of the house, whether the 
Bishop was at home or not, were to 
be instantly opened, and in one of the 
windows of the Great Hall he was to 
be put down, and standing, give there 
again his benediction towards the 
town. The Fool Bishop, at Mattins, 
High Mass, and Vespers, with his 
chaplain, was to preside for three days 
pontifically on the episcopal marble 
throne, properly adorned ; from whence, 
on the introit of the said hours, he was 
to be clothed in the Vestiary with a 
common silk cope, and adorned with a 
mitre and silk gloves. The Chaplain 
was to be clothed likewise in a common 
silk cope, carrying on his head a little 
cushion, instead of the cap, or birretum. 
Incense-bearers, and the apparitor, 
preceded the Fool-bishop to the epis- 
copal throne. There, with his chaplain 
sitting at his feet, having always a 
cross in his hand, he sat as long as the 
above hours were celebrating. The Sub- 
deacon, who was to sing the Epistle, 
or the Deacon the Gospel, with one 
knee bent, made him a supplication, 
whom he marked with his right hand. 
Mattins, Mass, and Vespers, being 
finished, his Chaplain said with a loud 
voice, " Be silent, be silent, keep si- 
lence." The Chorus replied, u Deo 
Gratias." The Fool-bishop, Adjuto- 
rium nostrum, fyc. Chorus, Qui fecit, 
&;c. Then the Bishop gave the bless- 
ing, indulgences, &c. 

The Feast of Fools was celebrated 
as before in various masquerades of 
women, lions, players, &c. They 



TO THE DISSOLUTION', 



47 



danced and sung in the Choir, ate fat 
cakes upon the horn of the Altar, 
where the celebrating Priest played at 
dice, 3 put stinking stuff from the lea- 
ther of old shoes into the censer, ran, 
jumped, &c. through the Church. 

In a MS. of the Church of Beauvais, 
about the year 500, it is said that the 
Chantor and Canons shall stand before 
the gates of the Church, which were 
shut, holding each of them urns full of 
wine, with glass cups, of whom one 
Canon shall begin the Canons of Ja- 
nuary. 

The following were assimilations or 
off-shoots of the Feast of Fools. The 
Council of Treves, in 1227. says, u Let 
not the Priests permit vagrant scholars, 
or Goliards, to sing verses upon the 
Holy Agnus Dei in Masses, or divers 
services ; because by this the Priest in 
the Canon is very much hindered, and 
the hearers offended. The Council of 
Tours speaks, in 1231, of these ribald 
Clerks ; and the Council of Cologn, in 
1300, forbids them to preach in the 
Church, and carry indulgences to sell. 
Matthew Paris, in 1229, explains this 
by saying, that they used to compose 
ridiculous verses, and were so named 
from one Golias, a scoundrel who com- 
posed libels in this kind of verse. 

In the Church of Roan were certain 
jesters, calling themselves Conardi, 
who elected an Abbot by a majority of 
votes, for which he canvassed the 
others. He rode dressed in a mitre 
and pastoral staff, once a year, through 
Rouen in a chariot ; at Evereux, upon 
an Ass, surrounded by his comrades. 
He jested upon all persons whom he 
met, as well as the absent. He issued 
mock letters-patent electing persons to 
Cardinalships, &c, and was himself 
elected upon St. Barnabas^s day ; be- 

a However horrible was this profanation, I could 
quote a passage, where in part of a serious penance, 
actions most indecent were to be publickly per- 
formed upon the Altar-table ; and therefore our 
ancestors had plainly not the ludicrous ideas of 
these mummeries as ourselves. They were the 
mere coarse festivities of the age, which deligbted 
in low humour. 



cause, as Le Beuf supposes, the Gallic 
trumpeters were the same as the Co- 
nardi, who had St. Arnulph the Trum- 
peter for their patron, and his day was 
the same as that of Barnabas. Conardi 
are elsewhere called fools. Du Cange 
thinks, that these ridiculous spectacles 
were derived from the Feast of Fools. 

The above are from Du Cange, v. 
KaJendce, Goliardi, and Abbas Conar- 
dorum. except where other authors are 
specified. 

There were games played in Churches 
abroad with BerteUi. perhaps the 
French Bretilles. Du Cange, v. Ber- 
til/us. Dancing in Churches also oc- 
curred. Id. v. Choreare. 

Tumblers used to attend burials of 
the poor, and throw somersets. Id. v. 
Cor bit ores. 

On the Feasts of the Calends, the 
people gave suppers in the manner of 
the Romans. Id. v. Festum. 

Upon the Epiphany was performed 
the Office of the three Kings ; or, Feast 
of the Star. 

Three Priests, clothed as Kings, 
with their servants carrying offerings, 
met from different directions before 
the Altar. The middle one, who came 
from the East, pointed with his staff 
to a star. A dialogue then ensued; 
and, after kissing each other, they began 
to sing, a Let us go and enquire f after 
which the Precentor began a respon- 
sory, "Let the Magi come/' A pro- 
cession then commenced ; and as soon 
as it began to enter the nave, a crown, 
like a star, hanging before the Cross, 
was lighted up, and pointed out to the 
Magi, with "Behold the star in the 
East." This being concluded, two 
Priests, standing at each side of the 
Altar, answered meekly, "We are 
those whom you seek; 5 ' and, drawing a 
curtain, shewed them a child, whom, 
falling down, they worshipped. Then 
the servants made the offerings of gold, 
frankincense, and myrrh, which were 
divided among the Priests. The Magi 
in the mean while continued praying 
till they dropped asleep ; when a boy, 



48 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM PROM THE CONQUEST 



clothed in an alb, like an Angel, ad- 
dressed them with, " All things which 
the Prophets said are fulfilled/' The 
festival concluded with chanting ser- 
vices, &c. 

At Soissons, a rope was let down from 
the roof of the Church, to which was 
annexed an iron circle, having seven 
tapers intended to represent Lucifer, 
or the morning star ; but it was not con- 
fined to the Feast of the Star. Du 
Cange, v. Stella, Stellce officium. 

On the 14th of January was another 

Feast of Asses, intended to represent 
the flight of the Virgin Mary into 
Egypt. A very pretty girl seated upon 
an ass, elegantly trapped, and holding 
a child, was led in procession to the 
Church, and placed upon the ass, at 
the Gospel side of the Altar. Kyrie, 
the Glory, Creed, &c, were then 
chaunted, and concluded with Hinham. 
At the end of the service, the Priest, 
turning to the people, instead of dis- 
missing them, said three times Hinham; 
to which they replied Hinham, Hinham, 
Hinham. Du Cange, v. Festum Asi- 
norum. 

On the 21st of January was the 
Feast of St. Agnes, on which it was 
usual to make presents. Du Cange, v. 
Agnecten, Festum. 

On the Purification, after Tierce, a 
carpet was to be laid before the Altar, 
and the candles upon it. After con- 
secration, one was to be given to each 
Monk. A particular psalm (Lumen ad 
Revelationem a ) was to be sung when 
they began to be lighted. After which, 
religious services, procession, and 
Mass, were to follow. After dinner 
they were to sit in the Cloister, till the 
servants had done, and then sing Nones. 
This finished, the Prior was to ring the 
bell, and the Monks to go to the Refec- 
tory. This custom, except on fasts, 
was to last until Palm Sunday. b 

H See eh. iv. Cowell, &c. say, the candles im- 
plied the light of the Gospel, from old Simeon's 
hymn. 

On St, Blaze's-day (Feb. 3), the people were 



§ From Septuagesima to Passion 
Sunday. 

On the first Sunday of Septuagesima 
they might eat fat (see Ch. iv.) ; but 
were afterwards to abstain till Easter. 
On Ash- Wednesday, after Sext, they 
were to return to the Cloister to con- 
verse ; but, at the ringing a bell, be 
instantly silent. They were to unshoe 
themselves, wash their hands, and go 
to the Church, and make one common 
prayer. Then was to follow a religious 
service ; after which, the Priest having 
consecrated the ashes, and sprinkled 
holy water on them, was to throw them 
on the heads of the Monks, saying, 
" Remember that you are but dust, 
and to dust must return/' Then the 
procession was to follow. 

Festivals, Fasts, fyc. Shrove Tues- 
day and the Monday before were days 
of sport and pastime ; d but the Tuesday 
derived its name from the confession 
usual on that day, preparatory to the 
Lent Fast. 

Pancakes. The Norman Crispellce 
(Du Cange) are evidently taken from 
the Fomacalia on the 18th of February, 
in memory of the method of making 
bread, before the Goddess Fornax in- 
vented ovens. 

Ash-Wednesday. The ashes were 
made of the branches of brush-wood, 
properly cleansed, sifted, and conse- 
crated, and were worn four times a 
year, as in the beginning of Lent. e On 
this day the people were excluded 
from Church ; f and husbands and 
wives parted beds.g The ancient pe- 
nitents wore sackcloth and ashes. h 



accustomed to burn lights for their houses and cat- 
tle, and bestow alms. Du Cange, v. Festum. 

c Rupert Tuitiensis adds, "bare-footed ;" be- 
cause, besides creation from earth, we are deprived 
of our glory by sin, and are naked among enemies, 
wanting the grace of God. L. iv. ch. x. p. 917. 
§ Cur cineres capitibus imponimus. 

d M. Paris, 298. See Strutt. 

e Du Cange, v. Cinis. 

{ Eadm. 23, XV. Script. 262. 

e Malmesb. G. Pont. L. ii. 

u Antiq. Vulgar. 285. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



49 



The Rule says, "that on the first 
Sunday of Septuagesima the Monks 
might eat fat ; but were afterwards to 
abstain." Upon Camivora, or Mardi- 
gras, the Thursday before Lent, the 
remains of meat were eaten, and the 
Septuagesima Sunday was the first day 
of Lent fast, according to William of 
Newborough; i. e. the time before 
Lent, when they began to abstain 
from meat. Before the ninth century 
Lent began upon Quadragesima Sun- 
day ; but afterwards, to fulfil the forty 
days, four days of Quinquagesima were 
added. a Elsewhere we have Sexagesi- 
ma Sunday called Carniprivium,because 
they ceased eating meat on that day : 
Quinquagesima, when they left off eat- 
ing cheese and eggs. On the first Sun- 
day of Lent they renewed the worship of 
the images. b From the Sabbath before 
Palm Sunday, to the last hour of the 
Tuesday after Easter, the Christians 
were accustomed to stone and beat the 
Jews, which the latter commuted for a 
payment in money. c 

The Lent fast differed from all the 
others, because the refreshment was not 
taken till after Vespers ; in others after 
Nones.J And we find instances of fast- 
ing everyday but Sunday until the even- 
ing ; and then eating only a little bread, 
an egg, and some milk and water : e but 
this Fast was allowed to be performed 
by another vicariously , e The most sa- 
cred ideas were annexed to Lent/ 
Froissart says, there were daily deliver- 
ed to the Germans in the army ten 
tons of Herrings for Lent and S00 
Carp, without counting different sorts 
of fish, which cost the King immense 
sums ;S so that probably the dispensa- 
tions so often printed, could not have 
been obtained even by royal authority 
for mere convenience ; or it was not 
prudent to solicit it. 

On the first day of Lent in the even- 
ing boys used to run about with fire- 
brands and torches. 11 



a Du Cange, v. Carniprivium. h Id. v. Do- 

minica dies. c Id. v. Colaphi Judceorum. 

d Id. inlitt. J. p. 1299. e Dugd. Monast. 

I. 63. f Dec. Script. 874, 2468. e XII. 

36. Ed. Johnes. h Du Cange, v. Brandones. 



Absence from the Church and mar- 
riage bed, and dereliction of the 
use of the sword and horse, occur 
during the whole forty days i among 
the laity. 

Because the Scripture was concealed 
in the Prophets till the coming of 
Christ, therefore the Altars, &c. were 
veiled. The removal in the week be- 
fore Easter was the manifestation by 
the veil of the Temple being rent in 
twain.k 

On the first Sunday of Lent, after 
Complin, a curtain was to be hung 
between the Choir and Altar. On Mon- 
day before Tierce, the Cross, &c. were 
to be covered. 

Before they entered the Chapter the 
keeper of the books was to have the 
books in Chapter laid out on a carpet, 
such excepted as had been lent to read 
the preceding year : for these the bor- 
rowers were to bring in their hands, 
according to a notice for that purpose, 
given the day before by the above Li- 
brarian ; then the sentence of the Be- 
nedictine Rule for the observation of 
Lent was to be read in the Chapter, 
and, after a sermon made upon it, the 
Librarian read the schedule of the 
books lent to the Monks on the year 
past. As every one heard his name 
called over he was to return the book 
lent to him ; and he who had not read 
it was to solicit pardon. Then the 
keeper was to give each Monk another 
book, and register their names as they 
received them. If this day was a feast 
of twelve lessons there were two read- 
ings in succession, one of the Gospel, 
the other of the observance of Lent. 
On that day was to begin the peniten- 
tial or prostrate psalms, and the car- 
riage of a lantern at the second lesson . 
On the Mondays, Wednesdays, and 
Fridays, till Easter, the table was not 
to be struck after Chapter, nor were 
they to speak in the Cloister. On 
the two last days, after Nones, they 



1 Id. v. Carena. 

k Rupert Tuitiens. L. iv. p. 916. 



50 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



were to sit in the Cloister ; a and, after 
an interval, at the bell ringing, unshoe 
themselves, wash their hands, and go 
to Church. This was to be followed 
by a procession, where every one was 
to be bare-footed, except the Priest and 
Deacon ; and those who from disease 
could not go with bare feet, were to 
stay out of the procession. When they 
returned, they were forbid to put on 
their shoes without leave. After the 
Mass and prayers, antecedent to Ves- 
pers [and every service] , they were to 
wash their feet and hands, and perform 
Vespers. b 

If a festival was celebrated in Lent ; c 
on the day before, the curtain was ga- 
thered up, and the forms d taken from 
the Choir. After Mattins of the dead 
they were to return to their beds. Af- 
ter Chapter they were to sit silent in 
the Cloister till the bell of Tierce ; and 
the children, after their Chapter, coming 
from the Dormitory, sit in school, and 
read. After Complin, the curtain was 
to be extended, and the forms brought 
back to the Choir. 

Passion- Week. There was to be a 
procession in the Cloister, as usual on 

B The conversations in the Cloister were after 
Chapter, and after Nones on certain seasons. These 
conversations were very licentious (Thorpe's Cus- 
tumale, p. 235) ; and therefore the visitors of Ed- 
mundsbury ordered, " that the common conversa- 
tions, which were sometimes allowed to be made, 
relate to the Scriptures, edification, observation of 
the order, and, as far as practicable, in the hearing 
of a guardian of the. Rule." And again, " Also we 
forbid discourses through the Cloister and Infirmary, 
as far as the Prior's chamber, as well by Monks as 
others, that the peace of those in the Cloister may 
not be disturbed." Communes locutiones quae in 
Claustro aliquando fieri permittuntur de Scripturis 
sint, et edificatione et de ordinis observatione, et in 
quantum fieri potest in audientia custodis ordinum 
fiat. 'Item, discursus per Claustrum et per infir- 
marium usque cameram Prioris tarn a monachis 
quam aliis prohibemus, ne traquillitas Claustralium 
turbetur. MSS. Cott. Julius, D. II. 157, a. 161, b. 

b On the Annunciation of the Virgin Mar.', the 
bells were rung, in honour of the Salutation of the 
Angel. Du Cange, v. Festum. 

c Thomas (2d) Lord Berkeley used to feast seve- 
ral Convents in Lent. Smythe's Berkeley MSS. 

d For prostration upon " jaceant supra formas, 
dicentes orationem Dominicam (let them lie on the 
forms, saying the Lord's-prayer.) Missale de 
Oseney, MS. Arch. A. Bodl. 73. The face was 
downwards. Osculantes furmulas, says the Porii- 
forium sec. usum Sarum, 1540, fol. Ixiii. b. Of 
this elsewhere. 



Sundays. The Abbot, or Priest, was 
to consecrate the palms, flowers, and 
leaves, which were laid upon a carpet 
before the high altar, sprinkle holy 
water on them, and cense them. The 
Sacrists were then to distribute the 
palms to the Abbots, Priors, and nobler 
persons, and flowers and leaves to the 
others. When this was done, and they 
made a stand in the procession which 
followed, two Priests were to bring the 
Paschal e in which the Crucifix was laid, 
and stand still. The banner and cross- 
bearers were to file off to the right and 
left of them, and the boys and convent 
so to arrange themselves, that, after a 
short service, the Priests, with the 
tomb, headed by the banner and cross, 
might pass between the Monks, who 
were to kneel as they passed. When 
they came to the city-gates, they were 
to divide again into two sides, and the 
shrine to be put on a table, covered 
with cloth. Above the entrance of the 
gates a place was to be handsomely 
prepared with hangings. The boys 
then, and those whom the Chanter had 
appointed to be with them, were to 
sing, "Gloria, Laus," Glory, Praise, 



e The Paschal (see Du Cange, v. Sepultura 
Crucifixi) was a tomb for the burial of Christ at 
Easter. Davies describes one ; but the most cu- 
rious is that at St. Mary Redcliff' s Church, Bristol, 
which I give from an original MS. of Chatterton, 
when very young, in my possession. 

The furniture of Redclift Church in 1470. 

Memorandum. That Master Cannings hath 
delivered, the 4th day of July, in the year of our 
Lord 1470, to Master Nicholas Pelles, Vicar of 
Redclift, Moses Conterin, Philip Berthelmew, and 
John Brown, Procurators of Redclift, beforesaid, a 
new Sepulchre, well gilt with fine gold, and a civer 
thereto ; an image of God Almighty rising out of 
the same Sepulchre, with all the ordinance that 
longeth thereto ; that is to say, a lath made of tim- 
ber and iron work thereto. Item, thereto longeth 
Heven made of timber and stained cloths. Item, 
Hell made of timber and iron work thereto, with De- 
vils the number of thirteen. Item, four knights arm- 
ed, keeping the Sepulchre with their weapons in 
their hands ; that is to say, two spears, two axes with 
two paves (pavaches, shields.) Item, four pair of 
Angel's wings, for four Angels, made of timber, 
and well painted. Item, the Fadre, the crown and 
visage, the well (sic, read boll) with a cross upon 
it, well gilt with fine gold. Item, the Holy Ghost 
coming out of Heven into the Sepulchre. Item, 
longeth to the four Angels, four Chiveliers (Pe- 
rukes.) [This is printed in Barrett's Bristol, 578, 
&c. &c] 






TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



51 



&c. After a procession through the 
city, they were to return to the Con- 
vent-gate, where the shrine was to be 
laid on a table, covered with cloth, and 
a religious service to be performed. 
They were next to return to the 
Church, and make a stand before the 
Crucifix then uncovered. Then Mass 
was to be performed ; and, after they 
had communicated, the Deacon first 
and the rest afterwards, were to offer 
their palms and flowers. The tables 
of the Refectory were to be covered. 
After dinner they were to go to sleep, 
and at Nones to arise, wash their hands 
and faces, comb themselves, and go to 
the Choir ; and upon the entrance of the 
infants, after their having washed and 
combed likewise, make the preparatory 
prayer, and sing Nones. After this 
the Prior was to ring the bell, and the 
Monks go to the Refectory. This was 
to be the rule all summer, till the Ca- 
lends of October, except on Fast-days. 

The Feast of the She Ass, upon 
which Christ sitting was worshipped by 
the people, was not kept (says Lind- 
wood), because the praise was human, 
and therefore not to be regarded. P. 
102. Ed. Oxf. [It was kept: see Note 
on Palm Sunday before.] 

On Tuesday the Monks in the Clois- 
ter were to shave, and on the morrow 
to bathe ; on which day there was to 
be no procession, and after Complin 
the curtain was to be removed. 

On Thursday [Shire-Thursday, which 
was a general day for communicating], 
as many candles were to be lighted as 
there were antiphonars and responses ; 
and at singing each of them, a candle 
was to be extinguished ; a the last, b 

a Extinction of the lights. Honorius Gallus 
says, "On these three days we celebrate the burial 
of our Lord ; but the three days and nights we 
reckon for 72 hours. And therefore we extinguish 
so many lights, because we mourn the true light ex- 
tinguished on these days, and express the sorrow of 
the 72 disciples, which they had on account of the 
setting of the eternal day and sun of Justice, whose 
hours they were. For three hours, to wit, from 
the 6th to tbe 9th, there was darkness when Christ 
hung on the Cross. These three hours we repre- 
sent by three nights, which we observe by extinc- 
tion of the lights. By the day illumined by the 
Sun, Christ— by the night illumined by the Moon, 



when the Chantor began the Antipho- 
nar {Traditor autem), "But the Traitor/' 
At one psalm, masters, children, young 
and old, were to mix together in a dis- 
orderly manner. Then, after prostra- 
tion on the forms, and singing certain 
psalms, at a signal from the Abbot or 
Prior, they were to make their bow to 
the Altar and Abbot, and stand in their 
places till the master brought lighted 
lanterns and gave them to the children. 
The Sacrist was then to light the can- 
dles at the Altar for the children to 
light theirs at. After lighting their 
candles they were to return to their 
beds ; and at day-break, that the boys 
and youths might come out without 
lights, the sacrist was to ring the bell 
late (modicej. The Monks were im- 
mediately to rise, put on their night- 
shoes, and, coming into the Choir, in- 
cline over the forms till the children 
came ; and while they were coming, 
after the prayer of preparation, begin a 
service at a sign from the Abbot, which 
was to end in confession. After this 
they were to sit in the Cloister till 
Tierce, which was to be followed by 
the Chapter, reading the sentence of 
the Rule, the sermon made on it, the 
correction of abuses, and the arrange- 
ment of the customs and ordinances for 
the morrow's Chapter, and the whole 
day. After this was to follow an 
appropriate service if any Monk was 
dead, or they had received a breve or 

the present Church— by the twelve hours of the 
day or night, the twelve Apostles are signified ; 
because therefoi-e the hours of the day and night 
are 24, and on feast dajs 24 Gloria Patries are sung, 
therefore the 24 lights are illuminated on these 
nights, which we distinguish at each canticum, be- 
cause, like- the Apostles, we mourn the setting of 
the true Sun." Gemma Animse, p. 1279. Ama- 
larius says, the extinction of the lights signified the 
sorrow in the hearts of the disciples, while Christ 
lay in the Sepulchre ; and that they were extin- 
guished when beginning the chant, that in every arti- 
cle of any unforeseen joy we might be affected with 
sorrow. De Ordine Antiphonarii, ch. xliv. p. 541. 
Rupert says, the darkness signified the blindness 
of the Jews, and tbe darkness of the Crucifixion ; 
the lights, the saints ; the extinction, the slaughter 
of them. L. v. ch. xxvi. p. 953. 

b Our Lord himself. Id. ch. xxxiii. p. 955. See 
further Rup. L. vi. ch. xxix. p. 970 ; Albinus 
Flaccus de Divin. Offic. p. 247 ; and Amalarius, L. 
iii. ch. xxii. p. 472. 

e2 



52 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



obit from another house. At the beat- 
ing of the table they were to talk in 
the Cloister, and after Sext again. 
Then was to follow a Mass for the 
Poor introduced by the Almoner, who 
were to take the Sacrament, and re- 
ceive refection ; after which Nones 
were to commence, and the forms, as 
then usual, to be removed. On these 
four days no one was to absent himself 
from the communion without a rea- 
sonable cause ; when the Mass was 
nearly ended, the forms were to be 
brought back, and Vespers began upon 
them. In the mean while the Priest 
following the procession was to go to 
the place where the body of Christ 
was laid, having been censed both be- 
fore and after its deposition there, and 
with a light constantly burning before 
it. This over, they took a mioctus. 
Upon entering the Refectory they were 
to bow before their seats, and, sitting 
down, take a mixtus of bread only, 
and drink, which was to be put ready 
by the Refectioners. Then the poor 
(who washed their feet first) were to 
be introduced to the Maundy, The 
Monks who died that year were to 
have their poor in this Maundy [see 
Infirmary], as well as those whom the 
Abbot selected ; in this service no 
Monk, but those deputed to the office, 
were to interfere. As long as this 
office of washing the feet and hands 
lasted, they were to sing ; and those who 
wished it might sit in the same man- 
ner as it was usual to sit in the Choir, 
namely, one between two standing ; 
but when the drinking commenced they 
might sit how they liked. Then Ves- 
pers were to follow. If any stranger 
from without sought benediction on 
any.of these three days [see Hostrey], 
he was to receive it ; the tables of the 
Refectory were to be covered ; at the 
bell, and over the Abbot's table were 
to be placed tables with hammers. a 

a Bells signified the Apostles, the heralds of 
Christ, and were not then rung, because they de- 
serted him ; and there was a wooden hammer sus- 
pended in a table, and sounding, (" ligneus mal- 
leolus in tabula suspensus et personans,") because 
Christ was then solum torcular calcans (see Isaiah, 
eh. lxiii. v. 3. J solus in ligno cruris, alone on the 



The verses and benediction in the re- 
fectory were to be omitted, and the 
Miserere after dinner read in a low 
voice. The reader was not to wait for 
the benediction, and to end without 
tu autem domine. h Whilst the Monks 
were in the fratry the Sacrists were to 
uncover all the Altars, and get ready 
two reading desks (the one in the 
Chapter and the other in the Church), 
which were to be carried, before col- 
lation, into the Refectory. After the 
Monks rose from table, and, as usual, 
returned from the Church and Dormi- 
tory, they were to wash their feet as 
on a Sabbath, and preparation was to 
be made for a Maundy in the Chapter, 
which was to take place after a drink- 
ing in the Refectory. This Maundy 
over, the Abbot and others, entering 
the Chapter, the Convent rising as he 
passed to his seat, were to go to their 
places. When the hymn was over the 
Sacrist was to strike the table for col- 
lation, and the Deacon to enter with 
the Gospel, preceded by three converts, 
carrying the candlestick and censer. 
Upon their entrance the Convent was 
to rise till the first verse of the Gospel 
was read, and, at a proper time, the 
Abbot nodded to the Prior to strike 
the table ; upon which they were all to 
rise, and, preceded by the Deacon and 
the above Converts, go to the re- 
fectory for a charity. The Deacon was 
to put the Gospel upon the lectern 
brought from the Church, and cense 
both ; and, at a nod from the senior 
Prior, who then officiated in the Ab- 
bot's room, to begin reading in the 
place where he had left off. The Re- 
fectioner was next to strike the table, 
and the Abbot and brothers, who had 
assistedhim in the Maundy, to go to the 
place where the drink of charity was 
prepared, with bottles, or the cups of 
the Monks in their hands. When these 
were filled, the reader was to be silent, 



wood of the cross, and the sole witness to the 
truth. Rupert Tuitiens. L. v. ch. xxix. 

b Beginnings and ends were left out, because, 
"lam alpha and omega, &c. ; and he who is our 
head and beginning Jesus Christ was in these days 
taken away from us." Id. L. v. ch. xxv. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



53 



and they were to go to the step ; and till 
they came thither theRefectioner was to 
strike the table from the time they had 
received the drink and began to go ; 
and upon their arrival, three or four 
times more quickly, and then stop. 
Then was to follow the benediction by 
the Priest of the week, and, after this, 
the Abbot was to give drink to the 
Prior and others, according to seniority, 
kissing their hands, those who assisted 
him in bringing the drink to the step 
ministering to him. When all the 
Monks and children were served, the 
Abbot was to go to the Deacon, who 
read the collation, and, when he had 
ended the verse he had begun, give him 
the drink, and so afterwards to those 
who carried the candlesticks and cen- 
sers. These the Abbot's assistants 
were in the mean while to hold, then 
to carry the cups of the Deacon and 
others to the Abbot's table, and when 
they came to the step, to make a bow, 
and sit down. Then the like drink, 
and kissing of hands, was to be done 
to them. The Abbot was next to go 
to his seat, the Convent rising as he 
passed, and the Prior to administer the 
drink to the Abbot, and kiss his hands. 
A nod of the Abbot was then to ter- 
minate the reading of the Deacon, who 
was to shut the book, make his bow, 
and lay his officiating robes upon the 
desk. The Converts were to carry the 
candlesticks and censer to the Abbot's 
table, make an inclination, and, with 
the Deacon, sit down at the table and 
drink. The Abbot was then to strike 
the table once, and as many times as 
the bell was struck on a common sab- 
bath at the charity after the Maundy, 
and the Priests to carry the two desks 
and robes to the Church. Thither the 
Abbot and Convent were to go in pro- 
cession, and the wonted confession to 
be made and Complin said, and after 
this the three usual prayers. 

On Good Friday the table was to be 
struck before Mattins in the Cloister, 
before the cellar and infirmary, to 
awake the sleepers, and the service to 
be the same as on Thursday. At Prime 
the table was to be struck, and they 



were to go barefooted to the Church, 
and so continue till the office of the 
day was finished : when it was very 
cold the Abbot might order them to 
put their shoes on, in which case of 
extreme cold they were only to be 
barefooted at the office. Afterwards 
they were to sit in the Cloister ; and, 
the Abbot beginning to say the whole 
Psalter, after which those who chose it 
might go to confession. When Tierce 
approached they were to go as usual to 
the Dortour, and, being combed and 
washed, to the preparatory prayers and 
Tierce. After these they were to go to 
the Chapter, a verse was to be said in 
silence, a sentence of the Rule read as 
on Thursday, a discourse made on it, 
and matters arranged for the morrow's 
Chapter. They were next to sit in the 
Cloister, neither talking, singing, or 
reading. After Nones the officiating 
ministers were to robe themselves, and 
the Priest and Deacon go to the Altar, 
covered with a single linen cloth. Du- 
ring the service, at the part " they di- 
vided my vestments among them" two 
of the robed ministers near the Altar 
were to draw out two cloths, which 
before the office had been sent there, 
the linen still remaining under the 
Missal. Then was to follow a religious 
service, and the prayer for all orders of 
men, except the Jews* When this 
was over, two Priests, appointed by the 
Chantor, were to go to the Cross, pre- 
pared and covered at the Morning 
Altar, and bear it, advancing by de- 
grees, and singing (as well as the Con- 
vent) to the High Altar. They were 
then to uncover it, begin the Antipho- 
nar, ecce lignum, and bow the knee. 
After more religious services, carpets 
were to be laid before the Altar, and 
the Abbot and others successively to 
prostrate themselves, pray, kiss the 
foot of the Crucifix, and afterwards 
return to the Choir. If there were 
any clerks or laymen who wished to 
adore the Cross, b it was to be carried 



a Because, till the fulness of the Gentiles, no 
manner of prayer could expel their blindness. Rup. 
Tuit. L. vi. ch. xviii.p. 964. 

b At Durham was " an image of our Lady, which 



r>4 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



to another place, and the Monks to 
kneel as it passed. When this Adora- 
tion was entirely over, the bearers 
were to elevate the Cross, and take it 
to its place ; the Monks seeking par- 
don on their knees. Then the Priests, 
&c. were to go to the place where the 
host was laid on Thursday, cense it, 
and give it to the Deacon to carry. As 
they approached the Altar, the Monks, 
kneeling, were to adore the host, which 
was placed upon the Altar, a and wine 
and water mixed in the chalice. After 
confession and prayer the Priest was to 
cense the host and chalice. Then was 
to follow the communion without the 
Pax, and the preparatory prayer of 
Vespers. These ended they were to 
go to the Cloister, wash their feet with 
warm water, and put on their diurnal 
shoes. Then Vespers were to be said 
in silence ; and after these they were 
to take their refection of bread and wa- 
ter, and raw herbs only, though the 
usual viands were cooked, but distri- 
buted in alms. After the refection of 
the Convent, the Sacrists, assisted by 
as many priests as were necessary, were 
to wash the Altars, first with water, 
then with wine. b When the servants, 
after returning from the Church and 
Dormitory, had taken their refection, 
the Monks were to go to the Refectory 
for the Rule's sake, but to drink water 
only. Upon their leaving this and 
sitting in the Cloister, the table was to 
be struck for collation; after which 



was made to open with gimmers (hinges) from her 
breast downwards ; and within was painted the 
image of our Saviour, finely gilt, holding up his 
hands, and betwixt his hands a fair and large Cru- 
cifix of Christ, all of gold ; which Crucifix was to 
be taken out every Good-Friday ; and every man 
crept unto it that was then in the Church." Davies, 
&c. 

Hot-cross Bun^. In the life of St. Severus 
(Abbat. Agath.) ch. ii. we hear of bread sent for 
presents in the manner of Eulogies [explained in 
the Chapter of Rules] ; which bread was marked 
with a cross, and the eating of it so marked had a 
mystical allusion. Du Cange, v. Artona. 

a By the host left on the Altar, was implied, 
that Christ lay in the Sepulchre, and was deserted 
by his disciples. Raban. Maur. de Instit. Cleric. 
L. i. ch. xxxiii. Addit. de Missa, p. 586. 

b Because blood and water issued from the 
wounded sides of our Lord. Rup. Tuit. L. v. ch. 
xxxi. 



they were to go to the refectory "to 
drink a charity/' 

On the Saturday till Prime all was 
to be done as on Friday. In the Chap- 
ter the sentence from the Rule was to 
be read, and all things arranged till the 
Easter Chapter. Before and after Chap- 
ter the Sacrists were to. adorn the 
Church and all the Altars ; to put the 
tapers where they ought to be, and 
place the one for consecration in its 
proper place c [the Serpent Taper in 
the Concordia Regularum]. In this 
taper was to be written the year of our 
Lord ; d and the Cross to be marked 
with five grains of incense in five 
places [from the five wounds of Christ] . 
Then were to follow the censing e pro- 
cession and consecration of the taper f 
(much as in the Concord of Rules) ; 
and a candle was to be lighted in the 
lantern, to light the taper if it went 
out; and this lantern was to be carried 
by one of the masters of the Novices. 
At this procession the candlesticks 
were not to be carried. The holy fire 
which remained in the Cloister was to 
be collected by the Cellarer's servants ; 
and from this taper all the fires s before 
extinguished in all the offices were 
again to be lighted. 11 The children, if 
too little, were not to stay till after 
Vespers for refection. 

c At Durham, upon the Paschal, besides six 
branches or candlesticks, three on each side, stood 
" a long piece of wood, reaching within a man's 
length to the uppermost vault or roof of the Church, 
upon which stood a great long squared taper of 
wax, called the Paschal, having a fine convenience 
through the said roof of the Church to light the 
taper." Davies; see before, ch. iv. 

d Because Christ is the acceptable year of the 
Lord, whose months are the twelve Apostles, whose 
days are the elect, and whose hours are the children 
baptized. Gemma Animae de Antiq. rit. Missar. L. 
ii*. p. 1281. 

e This the Deacon did, because the women who 
came to the burial of Christ brought spices. Rup. 
Tuit. ch. xxxi. p. 971. 

f The Deacon consecrated it, because the weaker 
sex .announced the Resurrection to the Apostles. 
Ibid. 

s The fire was extinguished at Sext, and re- 
lighted at Nones, on account of the eclipse of the 
Sun during the Crucifixion at those hours. Gemma 
Animae, p. 1280. 

h All the tapers were re-lighted from" the new 
fire, because our Lord, on the day in which be 
arose from the dead, though it was late, standing in 
the midst of his Disciples, and showing them his 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



55 



Easter-day and during Easter there 
was to be a procession to the Crucifix 
after Lauds and after Vespers through 
the whole week; on Easter-day in 
Cappis. 

Festivals in cappis (rich robes) were 
in general, not always, the most grand 
of all. The cappa (or cope, says Ho- 
norius, is the proper robe of singers, 
cantorum), which seems to be substi- 
tuted for the acintine tunic of the law 
(pro tunica acintina legis), from whence 
as that was adorned with bells so this 
with fringes. By this robe holy con- 
versation is represented, therefore it 
is used by every order. It has a 
hood above, which marks the joy of 
Heaven. It reaches to the feet, because 
in good living we must persevere to 
the end ; by the fringes the labour is 
denoted by which the service of God 
is consummated. It is open before, 
because eternal life lies open to the 
ministers of Christ who lead a holy life. 
Gemma Animse, ch. ccxxviii. p. 1238. 

On Easter-day was performed the 

Office of the Sepulchre, of which a 
slight notice was given in the preceding 
Chapter. The more full service was 
this ; previous to which it is fit to 
note, that Mary Magdalen, Mary of 
Bethany, and the sinner of Nairn, were 
three different persons, though often 
confounded : a Three Deacons clothed 
in dalmaticks and amesses, with their 
heads in the manner of women, and 
holding a vase in their hands, came 
through the middle of the Choir, and 
hastening towards the Sepulchre, with 
downcast looks, said together this 
verse, (i Who will remove the stone 
for us ?" Upon this a boy, clothed 
like an angel, in albs, and holding a 
wheat-ear in his hand, before the Se- 
pulchre, said, " Whom do you seek in 
the Sepulchre ?" The Maries answered, 
" Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified." 
The angel answered, " He is not here, 
but is risen ;" and pointed to the place 

hands and his side, breathed upon them, and said, 
" Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Rup Tuit. ch. 
xxix. p. 971. 

a Menagiana, II. 93, 99. 



with his finger. The angel then de- 
parted very quickly, and two Priests, 
in tunicks, sitting without the Sepul- 
chre, said, " Women, whom do ye 
mourn for ? Whom do ye seek ?" 
The middle one of the women said, 
(e Sir, if you have taken him away, say 
so/ 5 The Priest, shewing the Cross, 
said, a Because they have taken away 
the Lord." The two Priests, sitting 
said, "Whom do ye seek, women ?" The 
Maries, kissing the place, afterwards 
went from the Sepulchre. In the mean 
time a certain Priest, in the character 
of Christ, in an alb, with a stole, hold- 
ing a Cross, met them on the left horn 
of the Altar, and said, K Mary/' Upon 
hearing this, the mock Mary threw 
herself at his feet, and, with a loud 
voice, cried, Cabboin. The Priest nod- 
ding replied, "Noli me tangere " (touch 
me not). This being finished, the 
Priest again appeared at the right horn 
of the Altar, and said to them as they 
passed before the Altar, " Hail ! do 
not fear." This being finished, he 
concealed himself; and the women, 
joyful at hearing this, bowed to the 
Altar, and turning to the Choir, sung 
" Alleluia, the Lord is risen.' 5 This 
was the signal for the Bishop or Priest 
before the Altar, with the censer, to 
begin aloud, " Te Deum." Du Cange, 
v. Sepulchri Officium. 

Another office was the 

Burial of Alleluia. The observation 
of this ceremony is mentioned in Er- 
nulph's Annals of the Church of Ro- 
chester, and by Selden in his notes to 
Eadmer, as observed just before the 
octaves of Easter. Austin says, that it 
used to be sung in all Churches from 
Easter to Pentecost ; but Damasus or- 
dered it to be performed at certain times, 
when it was chaunted on the Sundays 
from the Octaves of the Epiphany to 
Septuagesima,and on the Sundays from 
the octaves of Pentecost to Advent. 
One mode of burying the Alleluia was 
this : in the sabbath of Septuagesima at 
Nones, the choristers assembled in the 
great Vestiary, and there arranged the 
ceremony. Having finished the last 



56 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



Benedicamus, they advanced with 
crosses, torches, holy water, and in- 
cense, carrying a turf (Glebam) in the 
manner of a coffin, passed through the 
Choir, and went howling to the Clois- 
ter, as far as the place of interment ; 
and then, having sprinkled the water, 
and censed the place, returned by the 
same road. According to a story 
(whether true or false) in one of the 
Churches of Paris, a Choir-boy used to 
whip a top, marked with Alleluia. 
written in golden letters, from one end 
of the Choir to the other. In other 
places Alleluia was buried by a serious 
service on Septnagesima Sunday. Du 
Cange, v. Alleluia. 

Another ceremony, though probably 
practised only abroad, is given here 
for its curiosity. A ball, not of size to 
be grasped by one hand only, being 
given out at Easter, the Dean and his 
representative began an Antiphone 
suited to Easter-day ; then taking the 
ball in his left hand, commenced a 
dance to the tune of the Antiphone ; 
the others dancing round hand in hand. 
At intervals the ball was bandied, or 
tossed to each of the choristers. The 
organ played according to the dance and 
sport. The dancing and Antiphone 
being concluded, the Choir went to 
take a refreshment. It was the privi- 
lege of the lord, or his locum tenens, to 
throw the ball; even the Archbishop 
did it. Du Cange, v. Pelota Percula. 
Anthony^ the Egyptian Abbot, used to 
play with his Monks, that he might, as 
he alledged, be afterwards more strong 
to serve God. Gold. Leg. fol. xlviii. 
But the above was taken from a cir- 
cumstance recorded in the Acta Sanc- 
torum. 

Du Cange suspects that there was a 
horrible custom in the thirteenth cen- 
tury of seizing all Ecclesiasticks who 
walked abroad between Easter and 
Pentecost (because the Apostles were 
seized by the Jews after Christ's pas- 
sion) ; and making them purchase their 
liberty by money, v. Prisio. 

In the Easter week the Monks were 
not to converse in the Cloister : but 
till the Ides of September on private 



days, unless when they left the Refec- 
tory, they were to go to the Chapter, 
perform a very short service, and after- 
wards speak in the Cloister. 

On the Octaves, at the Lections, 
there were to be Paschal Sermons. a 

At the Rogation Days, after Mattins 
for the dead, the Monks were to re- 
turn to their beds, and those who 
wished it to sleep longer than usual ; 
for in these days there was to be no 
meridian or sleep at noon, nor were 
they to be awakened by any sound, as 
usual at other times ; b but at a proper 
season the masters were to awake the 
children as quietly as possible ; and 
while they Avere reading in the Cloister 
those in their beds were to rise with- 
out delay. After the Mass de jejunio, 
the sentence of the Rule was to be 
read in Chapter, and the procession ar- 
ranged. After Tierce, the boys and 
infirm, who could not fast, took mixlus ; 
from Sext they were to go to the Dor- 
mitory, as at another time, when they 
were used to sleep at noon ; then^ with 
naked feet, they were to leave the 
Dormitory, wash their hands, and. 
going to the Church, say a prayer. 
This was to be followed bv a religious 
service and procession, in which the 
Chamberlain's servants were to de- 
liver staves d to the Monks to support 
them ; and when they were to come to 
the Church, where they were going, and 

a Because our whole life is the revolution of 
seven days, the eighth or octave signified eternity ; 
and this was the mystical reason, why octaves were 
annexed to festivals. Sparrow on the Common 
Prayer, 232. Du Cange adds, because our Lord 
rose on the 8th day (including Sunday to Sunday, 
says Alcuinus), the octave of a feast was the day 
on which the whole solemnity closed, v. Octavo.. 

Boys used to claim hard eggs or small money at 
the feast of Easter, in exchange for the ball play 
before mentioned. Du Cange, v. Roulleta. 

b Alluding to the state of the disciples, between 
the passion and ascension of Christ. 

c The Rogations were processions for the good 
of the future harvest ; and the three days before 
were to be spent in fasting, that the purified soul 
might ascend with Christ on the Thursday follow- 
ing. Sparrow, p. 160. 

d " Sometimes we use this staff, sometimes not. 
When we have Christ at hand we need no support. 
If he has left us on account of our sins, we have 
need to seek a support ; i. e. the prayers of the 
saints.'' Ciampini Vetera Monumenta, ch. xv. 
p. 119. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



57 



the Chantor began a chant to the ho- 
nour of the patron saint, the Monks, 
as they entered, returned the staves to 
the servants, to take them again when 
they went out. a Then there was to be 
another Mass dejejunio, a single prayer 
to be said for the patron saint, and 
two Monks to go to the gate of the 
house to sing an Agnus Dei, h and then 
to come back, taking with them some 
of the servants to sing the Litany, c 
which the Convent was to do upon 
their return. When the procession 
came to the gate of the Church, they 



a The staff was human assistance, and they did 
not need it when Christ was present. Expositio 
Missae de vetusto Codice, p. 2172. "When we 
make a procession to another church," says Hono- 
ring, " we go as it were to the land of promise ; 
when we enter the church singing, we arrive as it 
were rejoicing at our home (patriam)." Gemma 
Animae, L. i. ch. lxx. p. 1200. The churches to 
which the procession was made were sometimes 
the Cathedrals, see Provinc. Angl. p. 9. n. 1. voc. 
minoribus Ecclesiis ; hut not always these. See 
Monast. I. p. 212. 

b This, besides a chant in the Mass, had another 
signification. Pieces of the Paschal taper, conse- 
crated at Easter, were given to the people, to make 
perfumes for their houses, protect them from sor- 
cery, &c. This custom only prevailed out of Rome ; 
for there, instead of the taper, the Archdeacon 
used to consecrate some wax, mixed with oil, and 
distribute pieces in the form of a lamb to the peo- 
ple. This was the origin of those waxen images of 
the lamb, which the Pontiffs themselves consecrated 
in a more august form. Du Cange, in voce. 

c St. Mark's day, says Davies, was commonly 
kept a fast through all the country, and no flesh 
eaten upon it. Also upon this, and the three first 
days of Cross, or the Rogation week, there were 
processions by the Prior and Monks of Durham to 
one of the Parish Churches, and a sermon preached 
at each. Upon Holy Thursday was a procession 
with two Crosses, borne before the Monks, and 
each in rich copes ; the Prior in one of cloth of 
gold so massy, that his train was supported. 
Shrines and relicks were also carried. There were 
two Litanies performed twice in the year, the 
greater and the less ; the first on St. Mark's day, 
instituted by Gregory, on account of a pestilence, 
* called also the black cross from the black cloaths, 
worn from weeping and penance ; or " peraventure, 
because they covered the Crosse and auters with 
blessed hayres. ' ' The smaller Litany was sung three 
days before the Ascension, and was called the Ro- 
gations, Processions, &c. ; because then a general 
procession was made, the Cross borne, bells rung, 
and, in some Churches, a Dragon with a great tail, 
filled full of chaff, emptied on the third day, to shew 
that the Devil, after prevailing the first and second 
day, before and under the Law, was on " the thyrde 
day of grace, by the passion of Jhesu criste, put 
out of his reame." Gold. Legend, fol. xvi. a. b. 
ubi plura. 



were to end the Litany; after which 
the two selected Monks were to stand 
with naked feet before the gates, and 
sing an Agnus Dei. The Litany was 
to be followed by the preparatory 
prayer of Nones ; and, after this, they 
were to go to the Cloister to wash 
their feet, then return to the Choir, 
and, at the ringing of another bell, sing 
Nones. 

Whitsuntide. This week the fasts 
were to be begun, which the Rule re- 
quired on Wednesdays and Fridays, 
till the Ides of September, d unless 
there was a reason why the Abbot or 
Prior should twice grant a license of 
refection. e On a Vigil that fell on 
these days there was to be a Mass, 
but no procession. After the Chapter 
on Fast days they were to sit in the 
Cloister conversing. After Tierce the 
servants, and minuti, and sick, were to 
take mixtus. After Sext they were to 
go to sleep, and next bring their shoes, 
barefooted, to the Cloister. Then they 
were to wash and comb themselves, 
and go to Church. In this season to 
the calends of October they were only 
to converse once in the Cloister, from 
after the Chapter till Tierce. After 
Sext they were to go to the Dormitory, 
and Mass be celebrated after that 
hour. 

Presents of roses were made on 
Whit sun day . f 

Festivals, §*c. how observed. 

Whitsuntide. In some Churches 
abroad water was let down, afterwards 

d Benedict prescribed fasting from Holy- Cross 
day (Sept. 14.) to Easter, and from Pentecost to 
Holy-Rood day, every Wednesday and Friday. 
On the fasts prescribed by the Order, the Monks 
were to make but one repast at Nones (3 p. m.), 
and on the Church-fasts, not till the evening colla- 
tions. Reg. ch. xli. This fast was by no means 
observed. Reyn. Append. 165. 

e The dispensation extended to growing youths, 
the sick, weak, minuti, and " those who bore the 
burden of the day." M. Paris, p. 1059. Const. 
Cap. Gen. Northamp. a°. 1225. § Hospitalitate. 
By the const, of the same place, a*. 1444, ch. viii. 
the Monks were not to sup on any Friday in the 
whole year, except a Christmas -day fell then. 
Fasting twice a week was borrowed from the Pha- 
risees. Pictet. Serm. sur. Matt. 19. 

f Du Cange, v. Rosa. 



58 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



wafers, from a hollow place in the mid- 
dle of the Churchy in commemoration 
of the descent of the Holy Ghost. a 
The Ordinary of the Church of Rouen 
says, "Whilst Veni Creator is begun 
some of the Treasurer's people, being 
in the lower deambulatories of the 
tower, shall throw down before the 
Crucifix, and, as far as they can, be- 
low the Choir, oak-leaves, unconse- 
crated wafers, and burning tow, in a 
large quantity : and, at the Gloria in 
excelsis (Glory to God on high), shall 
let fly towards the Choir small birds, 
with unconsecrated wafers tied to their 
legs \ and continue the above till the 
Mass, and not cease till the Gospel be 
said. All this was be at the expense 
of the Treasurer and Chapter in equal 
proportions. b Elsewhere at the Feast 
of Pentecost we find, among the so- 
lemnities of High Mass, unconsecrated 
wafers, with burning torches, thrown 
down from the highest vaulting among 
the Choir/' Lambarde (after de- 
scribing the Office of the Sepulchre 
by Puppets, in which was one watch- 
man, who seeing Christ arise, made a 
continual noise, like the metynge of two 
sticks, and was therefore nick-named 
Jack Snackes) thus describes the Whit- 
suntide-office : " I myself, being then a 
child, once sawe in Poule's Church, in 
London, a feast of Whitsuntyde, 
wheare the coming downe of the Holy 
Ghost was set forth by a white Pigeon, 
that was let to fly out of a hole, that 
yet is to be seene in the mydst of 
the roof of the great isle ; and by a 
long censer, which descendinge out of 
the same place, almost to the verie 
grounde, was swinged up and downe 
at such a lengthe, that it reached with 
thone sweepe almost to the West gate 
of the Churche, and with the other to 
the quyre staires of the same, breath- 
inge out over the whole Churche and 
companie, a most pleasant perfume of 
such swete things as burned therein. 
With the like doome shewes also, they 
used everie where to furnish sondrie 



a Coryatt's Crudities, I. p. 3. b Du Cange, v. 
Nebula. c Id. v. Oblatce. 



parts of their Church service, as by 
their spectacles of the Nativitie, Pas- 
sion, Ascension, &c." d In some Coun- 
cils of Spain it is enacted, that there 
be no representation of the emission of 
the Holy Ghost at this season, during 
Mass and Vespers, nor mock thunders, 
which had done much damage. e 

On the principal Feasts every thing 
was to be done usual on a holy sab- 
bath. On the Vigil the whole Monas- 
tery and all the Altars were to be 
ornamented to the best ability of 
the place. The Offices and Cloister 
were to be cleaned, the seats of the 
Refectory, Chapter, and Cloister, were 
to be covered, and rushes strewed on 
the forms. At the reading of the Gos- 
pel the Altar was to be uncovered, and 
all the tapers lighted. Festival cloths 
were to spread upon the Refectory 
tables, so that they might hang before, 
besides the daily ones upon which the 
Monks were to eat. They were to 
have towels to wipe their hands with 
at the first refection only, and late at 
supper. 

On the principal feasts of the second 
class, the Altars, Presbytery, Choir, 
and members of the Church, on both 
sides the Choir, were to be ornamented 
on the Vigil, the bells rung, as on 
principal feasts, two parts of the tapers 
of the crown of the Presbytery, all 
about the High Altar, and the one be- 
fore the Crucifix lighted. On Ascen- 
sion-day there was to be a procession 
in albs (a kind of surplice, the white 
garment that Herod put upon Christ.) f 
On the Feast of the Dedication of the 
Church, the tapers lighted at the Ves- 
pers preceding through all the Altars 
were not to be extinguished before the 
morrow's Complin. A Mass was to 
be celebrated at every Altar, if there 
were Priests enough ; and after that a 
procession in albs, either around the 
Church, if there was a proper place 
for it, or through the Cloister. 

On Feasts of the third class the two 
Altars of the Presbytery, the Presby- 

d Warton's Poetry, I. 241, &c. e Du Cange, 
v. Zamborio. l Lewis's Thanet, p. 154. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION, 



59 



tery and Choir, were to be dressed on 
the Vigil. In the Exaltation of the 
Cross, the service was to be similar to 
that of the Invention, except that on 
the latter the Cross was to be worshiped, 
on the former not. In the latter, after 
Tierce, the Choir was to be strewed 
with carpets up to the High Altar. 
Two Monks were to bring the Cross, 
covered, to the step nearest the Altar. 
It was then to be uncovered, and at 
the ecce lignum crucis all were to kneel, 
and afterwards prostrate themselves 
before it, and kiss the foot of it accord- 
ing to seniority. This ended the two 
bearers were to begin an Antiphonar, 
super omnia, and all to kneel. The 
Cross was then to be returned to its 
place, and Mass performed. 

On the five principal Sundays (1 Adv. 
Septuag. 1 Lent, Midlent, and Palm 
Sunday) the ornaments were to be si- 
milar to those of principal feasts. 

On all the feasts of twelve lessons, 
and all days within the octaves, the 
Monks were not to converse in the 
Cloister. 

On Trinity Sunday there was at Dur- 
ham a grand procession, and especially 
on Corpus Christi Day, instituted by 
Urban IV., and great pardons granted 
upon it. All the trades in the city, 
with banners and candles, and a shrine 
containing the pix (or chrystal-box en- 
closing the host), went in procession, 
and were joined by the Convent, who 
worshipped it ; and had a service in the 
Choir. Of the play, &c. &c. upon this 
day, see Weever, Fun. Mon. 405. 
Strutt, Gliggam. 118. Archaeological 
Library, 161, et alios. It was abolished 
by James I. ; and the citizens, in some 
parts of England, to make themselves 
amends, substituted Show-days, and 
erected arbours in the town-meadows, 
where they feasted, &c. Philips's 
Shrewsbury, p. 202. Upon the Trans- 
figuration of Christ (Aug. 6), new wine, 
if it could be found, was used in the 
chalice, or sometimes a ripe grape 
squeezed into it, and the branches con- 
secrated. From this they communi- 
cated. Du Cange, v. Festum. 

Among the iVnglo-Saxons, at least, 



every Christian of age fasted three 
days on bread and water before the 
Feast of St. Michael, and went to church 
to confess barefooted, &c. Leg. Ethel- 
redi, 2, ap. Brompton. Du Cange, v. 
Jejunium. 

APPENDIX. 

DECREES OF THE COUNCIL OF LATE- 
RAN, ANNO 1215. a 

It enjoins visitations and general 
Chapters — forbids new religions — or- 
ders no Monk or Abbot to have a 
place in more than one house, nor to 
play at dice or draughts — prohibits 
players and jesters — mentions Abbots 
spending almost half the night in su- 
perfluous talk and dissolute habits, 
and never performing divine service 
four times in a year — enjoins the reli- 
gious not to be bail for persons with- 
out leave of the Abbot or Convent — 
forbids Abbots invading Episcopal 
Offices by a meddling with matrimonial 
causes, enjoining public penances, 
granting letters of indulgences, and si- 
milar presumptions" — prohibits the re- 
ceipt of tythes from lay-hands b — repro- 
bates persons deputed to collect alms 
stopping in taverns or other unfit 
places — and censures simony. Labbei 

a The Monks cite various constitutions, not to 
be found in Labbe. Swapham says, " it was de- 
creed in the Synod of Lateran, that the Monks 
should fast, as contained in the Rule, namely, from 
Holy-rood to Easter. The Abbot returning home 
from the said council, made it known to his Con- 
vent, and obtained, by his requests, that the afore- 
said fasts should be observed for the above time." 
Hist. Ccenobii Burgensis, p. 111. Matthew Paris 
too (p. 1063) insinuates, that an alteration was 
made in the burial of Abbots after the Lateran 
Council. But the printed councils are notorious 
for omissions. See Selden's Titles of Honour, 
239, ed. 2. Tythes, c. viii. § 4, 5, 10, 26, &c. 

b i, e. arbitrarily, without the Bishop's consent. 
See Selden on this passage. Tythes, c 6, § 7. 

c The cynical and querulous Barclay is bitter 
upon this subject. He says, 
" The Abbot and Prior, and also their Covent, 
Are so blinded with unhappy covetise, 
That with their own can they not be content, 
But to have more they alway meanes devise ; 
Yea in so much that some have found a gyse, 
To fayne their brethren taken in captivitie, 
That they may begge so by authoritie ; 
They fayne miracles, where non were ever done, 
And all for lucre : some other range about, 
To gather and begge with some fayned pardon, 



60 



BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



Concilia, sub anno 1215. [See § Monks 
and Nuns, for the practices alluded 

to.] 

CONSTITUTIONS OF BENEDICT THE 
TWELFTH, ANNO 1336. 

Common and Provincial Chapters 
once in three years — appointment of 
visitors — general Chapters annually to 
correct abuses, and audit the accounts of 
those who hadbeen charged with an office 
— aids and collections — daily Chapters 
in Abbeys of more than six Monks — 
masters to teach the Monks — to send 
students to the University — to grant 
pensions to them — against waste of 
the woods by improper sales, and 
granting pensions for life — against 
deceitful contracts. "They also, by 
themselves and others, pretend to have 
made loans; sometimes in their own 
names, and their securities ; and even 
make use of the names of others. 
Sometimes they acknowledge, by pub- 
lic instruments, to have borrowed from 
a father, relative, servant, or merchant, 
wine, corn, money, cattle, or other 
goods, for the use of their houses, when 
they never received any such thing *' — 
Abbots to take an oath not to sell, 
alienate, mortgage, or enfeoff anew the 
lands destined u to the table of the 
house " — not to appropriate to them- 
selves the goods of vacant offices, 
priories, and benefices — inventories or 
registers ordered — places not to be let 
to farm unless from necessity — prelates 
and officers not to obtain privileges 
6i by which the liberties, possessions, 
property, and rights of their offices are 
strengthened/ 5 and various valuables 

And at the Ale-house at night all drinketh out. 
So run these beggers in company rowte, 
By streetes, tavernes, towns, and villages : 
No place can well be free of their outrages. 
Some begge for buildinges, some for reliques 

newe 
Of holy saintes, of countreys farre and strange ; 
And with their wordes fayned and untrue, 
For cause of lucre about they runne and range, 
But in a simple village, farme, or grange, 
Whereat these beggars most simple men may 

finde, 
With their false bones, as relickes, they them 

blinde. 

Ship n/Fooles, 119, b. ed. Seb. Brandt, 



of their houses transferred to, or held 
in, the hands of relatives and friends — 
against Monks having property, scra- 
ping up money, buying estates, or 
causing them to be bought in other 
names, or their own; giving others 
cattle to keep to produce interest or 
profit to themselves or another, and 
driving many various bargains like 
tradesmen — against money being given 
them instead of victuals — no secular 
clerks or laymen, or Monks of another 
house, to farm the kitchen — against of- 
ficers keeping women, although mo- 
thers and sisters, in the same house — 
not to have other horses or servants 
than office required — suite of Abbots 
and officers limited, except in case 
of war or personal danger — punctual- 
ity in payment of the funds for the 
necessaries of Monks at the usual 
times — fit persons, or those likely to 
be so, only received as Monks — against 
deviations in dress — punishment of il- 
licit absence, a severe beating with a 
ferula, in Chapter— against Monks 
dwelling alone in offices or priories, 
and single Monks being placed in towns 
and parish churches— the usual hours 
to be sung in the priories, and the 
Monks to take their weeks in celebra- 
ting Mass once a day — with note 
where three or four more, and then 
one Mass at least every day — to lie in 
a Dormitory, not in separate chambers 
— to obey the Prior — to abstain from 
flesh, and not to have partitions in the 
Dormitory — Masses to be celebrated 
once a week at least, in Priories and 
Schools, and elsewhere — persons, not 
Priests, to confess every week, and 
take the Sacrament once every month 
— proper provision for the books and 
necessaries of the Church — no person 
to be made a conventual Prior till 
twenty-five years old, and within a year 
after such promotion to be ordained 
Priest — Claustral Prior a to be a prudent 
and discreet man — Monks not to hold 
offices or benefices in other churches 
or houses — ancient number of Monks 
to be kept up, and the usual procura- 



a See § Prior. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 



61 



tions paid — Presidents of Provincial 
Chapters to restore decayed discipline 
in bad houses, by sending them fit 
Monks for such purpose — Monks who 
had injured the property of their 
houses to be sent to others — Mendi- 
cants a claiming administrations, of- 
fices, and similar privileges, among 
the Monks, to exhibit the papal au- 
thority for this assumption— no Monk 
defaming his superior to be attended 
to, unless willing to sustain the punish- 
ment of failure of proof — against con- 
spiracies — concerning the promulga- 
tion of the constitutions in the pro- 
vincial Chapters. 

[For the Regular Canons. None but 
fit persons, or those likely to be so, to 
be received — to be instructed by a 
proper person during the time of pro- 
bation, " in a place where at least 
seven canons resided " — creation of 
them to belong to the Prelate and 
Convent ; to the former, with counsel 
of a third of the seniors, if the Convent 
delayed after a month's warning — pro- 
fession, not clandestine, and with Mass 
— no clerk to be received to a Prebend 
or portion, who had not first resigned 
se §■ sua (himself and property) to the 
house — a Claustral Prior in every 
house not having a superior, or more 
than twelve Canons, or (though usually 
fewer) having a head — regular Chapters 
at least once a week, or oftener — annual 
Chapter of superiors — provincial one 
from four years to four years — no 
large suite to be brought there — office 
of visitors — not to be visitors the same 
year of those who had visited them — 
not to stop above two days unless from 
urgent occasions — not to extort mo- 
ney by themselves or others, except 
for expenses 13 — collections to be made 
— masters to be appointed to teach 

a Friers. 

b In the Visit, of Oseney,byPeacham, "procura- 
tionem visitationis — non in esculentis et poculentis 
ut assolet exigebat, sed in pecunia numerata juxta 
consuetudinem pristinam ;" i. e. he required his 
procurations to be paid not in eatables and drink- 
ables, but in ready money, according to ancient 
custom. MS. Wood, in Mus. Ashmol. 8563, 
pp. 2, IS. So that episcopal and conventual visi- 
tors were on different footings. 



the Canons in the primary sciences, 
and afterwards in the divine and canon 
laws — one out of twenty to be sent to 
study at the university — number to be 
made up by joining dependent and 
parent houses — pension to doctors, 
lecturers, scholars, and others — distri- 
bution of books among the students — 
government of them by a Prior — Pre- 
sidents of the Provincial Chapter to 
manage the affairs of the students in 
pecuniary respects — no one to take de- 
grees without previously engaging only 
to expend a certain sum — Canons in 
benefices and cells as the Benedictines 
before — usual number to be preserved 
— excess of horses and servants for- 
bidden — immoderate feasts of superiors 
and their servants prohibited — Reli- 
gious to go out with company — Abbots 
or other Prelates to have two compa- 
nions with them — beneficed men or of- 
ficers to be ordained Priests — regula- 
tion of dress — illicit absence punished 
as among the Benedictines — no aliena- 
tions of property without licence of the 
Papal See — fraudulent and deceitful 
contracts forbidden as in the Benedic- 
tine Constitutions — recovery of debts 
from them only after a consultation of 
at least two distinct days, with the 
Chapter or Convent — against unwise 
and injurious leases (locationes) — to 
have registers and archives — punctua- 
lity of payment in money or pensions 
for aliments and revenues — no flesh to 
be eaten on Sabbath, and all Advent — 
on Wednesday and Septuagesima ac- 
cording to local statute — to reside in 
the Cloister, and sleep in a Dortour, 
not private chambers — privileges and 
moveables as in the Benedictine Con- 
stitutions — Mass in Convents at least 
twice a week — in Priories and Cells 
once — in schools or elsewhere at least 
once in fifteen days — Confession the 
same — Sacrament every month — Mass 
to be said, not by running it over, or 
shortening it, but gradually and dis- 
tinctly [see the end of this article %%~] 

c From the Bullarium Roman um, V. I. p. 242 — 

274. The deviations alluded to in these and the 
preceding Constitutions will be severally discussed 
in their respective places. 



62 BENEDICTINE MONACHISM FROM THE CONQUEST 



— care to be taken of the relicks and 
Church ornaments — not to be forced 
to secular courts — against hunting and 
fowling, " unless they had vivaria a or 
warrens of their own, or a right of 
sporting in others, in which case it was 



allowed, so that they did not keep 
dogs within their precincts, or lent their 
personal presence to hunting " — not 
to have arms without leave — against 
detraction and other crimes as in the 
Benedictine code. b ] 



1F1f The abuse of the service in Churches under the Monks, Canons, and 
Clergy is delineated in a very curious and interesting manner by Barclay : 

There be no tidings nor nuelties of warre, 
Nor other wonders done in any straunge lande, 
Whatsoever they be, and come they never so farre, 
The Priestes in the queere, at first have them in hande, 
While one recounteth the other to understande 
His fayned fable, harkening to the glose, 
Full little adverteth howe the service goes. 

The Battayles done perchaunce in small Britayne, 
In Fraunce, or Flaunders, or to the worlde^s ende, 
Are told in the quere (of some) in wordes vayne, 
In middest of Matins in steede of the Legende, 
And other gladly to heare the same intende. 
Much rather then the service for to heare, 
The Rector chori is made the messanger. 

He runneth about like to a pursevant 

With his white-staffe c moving from side to side; 

Where he is leaning tales are not scant, 

But in one place longe doth not he abide, 

So he and other themselves so lewdely d gide, 

Without devotion by their lewde negligence, 

That nothing can binde their tonges to silence. 

And in the morning when they come to the quere, 

The one beginneth a fable or a historie ; 

The other leaneth their eares it to heare, 

Taking it in stede of the invitorie. 

Some other maketh respons, antem, and memory, 

And all of fables and jestes of Robin Hood, 

Or other trifles, that scantly are so good. e 

Ship o/Fooles, 182, 183. 

The behaviour of the Laity in these Churches is also admirably described thus : 

" And whyle the Priestes also them exercise, 

In mattins, praying, sermon, or preaching devine, 

a These were mostly fish-ponds or stews, but they mean parks here. See Lyndwood,p. 200. 

b Bullarium Romanum, ubi supra. 

e Collins mentions this (Peerage, VI. 419) ; but an Angel in a vision uses a reed, not a wand. Du 
Cange, v. Arundinetum. See § Precentor hereafter. 

d Lewdely, licentiously. Steevens. 

e The account of St. Paul's Church, as the Mart of News 7 in Mr. Douce on Shakespeare, well illustrates 
this passage. 



TO THE DISSOLUTION. 63 

Of other due thinges, that longe to their service ; 
Teaching the people to vertue to encline ; 
Then these fooles, as it were roving swine, 
With their jetting a and tales of viciousnesse, 
Trouble all suche service, that is said, more and lesse. 

Into the Church then comes another sotte, b 

Without devotion, jetting up and downe, 

Or to be seene, and to showe his garded c cote : 

Another on his fist e, a Sparhauke or Fawcone, d 

Or els a Cokow, e and so wasting his shone (shoes), 

Before the aulters he to and fro doth wander, 

With even as great devotion as a gander. 

In comes another his houndes at his tayle, 
With lynes and leases/ and other like baggage, 
His dogges barke, so that withouten fayle 
The whole Church is troubled by their outrage, 
So innocent youth learneth the same of age, 
And their lewde sounde doth the Church fill, 
But in this noyse the good people kepe them still. 

One time the hawkes bells j angle th hye, 

Another time they flutter with their winges, 

And nowe the houndes barking strikes the skye ; 

Nowe sounde their feete, and nowe the chaynes ringes, 

They clap with their handes ; by such maner thinges, 

They make of the Church for their hawkes a mewe, 

And canell (kennel) for their dogges, which they shall after rewe. 

There are handled pleadinges, and causes of the lawe, 

There are made bargaynes of divers maner thinges, 

Byinges and sellinges scant worth a hawe, 

And there are for lucre contrived false leasinges ; 

And while the Priest his Masse or Matins singes, 

These fooles, which to the Church do repayre, 

Are chatting and babling, as it were in a fayre.s 

Some gigle and laugh, and some on maydins stare, 
And some on wives with wanton countenance, 

a To Jet is to strutt. Steevens. Cotgrave (v. Fringuer) extends the meaning. 

b Sot, not a drunkard. Sherwood says, " A sot. Sot, fol, bedault, badelori, grue, oison bride, jan^ 
gipon,jobelin, micon, minchon, bedier, bejaune.'' Here it means a vain trifler. 

c Laced. 

d The English and French nobles never travelled but in a warlike or hunting equipage ; the bird upon 
the fist, and the dogs running before. The bird upon the fist was the most unequivocal proof of nobility 
in women, and those not yet made knights. Maillot, III. 67. 

e Though it was usual to carry a Hawk upon the fist, I never before heard of a Cuckow : only that rank 
was distinguished by the kind of Hawk. 

f Cotgrave has lesse ; a leash to hold a dog, &c. 

s In the reign of Henry III. a law-suit was settled in St. Peter's Church, Bristol ; and each party took 
a solemn oath, and agreed to forfeit ten marks for every article of the agreement which might be broken 
(Smythe's Berkeley MSS. 119). The people used to come early in the morning on law matters, begging 
to have Mass first said by the Priest (Sim. Dunelm. 35). This business was mostly done in the Porch. 
Eadmer (p. 26) mentions persons assembling there on business, which is an extremely ancient custom ; 
the aisles and bodies of the Heathen temples being expressly devoted to such purposes, if desired. Godw. 
Rom. Hist, Anthol. p. 21. See, too, Livy, I. 30, &c. 



64 BENEDICTINE MONACHISM. 

As for the service they have small force or care, 
But full delite them in their misgovernaunce. 
Some with their slippers to and fro doth praunce, 
Clapping with their heeles in Church and in queare, 
So that good people cannot the service heare. 

What shall I write of maydens and of wives, 
Of their roundinges a and ungoodly communing ; 
Howe one a slaunder craftely contrives, 
And in the Church therof hath her talking ; 
The other have therto their eares leaning ; 
And then when they all have heard forth hir tale, 
With great devotion they get them to the ale. 

Thus is the Church denied with vilany, 

And in steede of prayer and godly orison, 

Are used shameful bargayns and tales of ribawdry, 

Jettinges and mockinges and great derision ; 

There fewe are or none of perfect devotion ; 

And when oure Lorde is consecrate in fourme of bread, 

Therby walkes a knaves, his bonet on his head. 



a Whispering, A. Sax. jiunian, " called than to him a clark, and rowned with him." State Trials, 
p. 36, col. i. ed. Fol. 



65 



CHAPTER VI, 



RULES OF THE ORDERS WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



In the 13th century Guyot de Provins, 
at first a Minstrel, afterwards a Monk, 
wrote, what he has (oddly to us) deno- 
minated a Bible, though only a poem, 
religious, moral, and satirical. a It con- 
tains some curious passages of various 
Monastick orders, which he often ge- 
nerally designates, as does James de 
Vitry and others, by Black Monks, or 
those who follow the Benedictine Rule ; 
and White Monks, who adopted the 
Augustinian Institutes, or, in reform- 
ing themselves, had quitted the black 
habit for the white. 

Cistertians. "The Abbots and Cel- 
larers have ready money, eat large fish, 
drink good wine, and send to the Re- 
fectory, for those who do the work, 
the very worst. These Monks/' he 
says, "I have seen put pig sties in 
Church-yards, and stables for asses in 
Chapels. They seize the cottages of 
the poor, and reduce them to beggary/ 5 

Carthusians. "T know the Car- 
thusians," says he, e£ and their life 
does not tempt me. They have each 
habitation; every one is his own cook; 
every one eats and sleeps alone ; and 
I do not know whether God is much 
delighted with all this. But this I 
well know, that if I was myself in Pa- 
radise, and alone there, I should not 
wish to remain in it. A solitary man 
is always subject to bad temper. Thus 
I call those fools who wished me to 
immure myself in this way. But what 
I particularly dislike in the Carthu- 
sians is, that they are murderers of 
their sick. If these require any little 
extraordinary nourishment, it is pe- 
remptorily refused. I do not like re- 
ligious persons who have no pity; the 
very quality which, I think, they espe- 
cially ought to have." 



a MS. Bibl. Nationale a Paris, marked La Va- 
liere, 2707, &c. The extracts are from the Notices, 
&c. vol V. 285, seq. 



Grandmontines. " Besides fondness 
for good cheer, they were remarkable 
for the most ridiculous foppery. They 
painted their cheeks, washed and co- 
vered up their beards at nights (as now 
women do their hair), in order that 
they might look handsome and glitter- 
ing on the next day. They were en- 
tirely governed by the Lay-brothers, 
who got possession of their money ; 
and with it, buying the Court of Rome, 
obtained the subversion of the Order "h 

Regular Canons. " Augustin, whose 
rule [i. e. the Rule composed by Ivo 
de Chartres from the writings of Au- 
gustin, says Mosheim, &c] they allow 
was more courteous than Benedict. 
Among them one is well shod, well 
cloathed, well fed. They go out when 
they like, mix with the world, and 
talk at table." 

Clugniacs. " When you wish to 
sleep they awake you : when you wish 
to eat they make you fast. The night 
is passed in praying in the Church, 
the day in working, and there is no re- 
pose but in the Refectory : and what 
is to be found there ? Rotten eggs, 
beans with all their pods on, c and 
(boisson des bceufs) liquor fit for oxen. 
For the wine is so poor (mouille, wa- 
tered), that one might drink of it for a 
month without intoxication." 

Templars. "They are honoured in 
Syria, much dreaded by the Turks, and 
their order would suit me well enough, 
were it not necessary to fight ; but 
they are too brave. d As to me, if I 
die, it will never be, I hope, through 
prowess or courage. I had rather be 
a living coward than have the most il- 
lustrious death in the whole world. 
These worthies (preux) of the Temple 



b Of this Monastick quarrel, see Fleurv, Hist. 
Eccl. XVI. 73. 

c These were eaten. Du Cange, v. Go»ssa, 
d They were never to fly. M. Paris, 374. 

F 



66 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



are very exact in all -which concerns 
the service of the Church; and, re- 
specting that point, I should yield to 
them in nothing; but the moment 
righting commenced, f your servant/ 
they should go without me. A battle 
is not wholesome (serine). I willingly 
leave that honour to them ; and, please 
God, I hope to be neither killed nor 
wounded." 

Hospitalers. " I have lived with 
them at Jerusalem, and have seen 
them proud and fierce. Besides, since 
by name and foundation they ought 
to be hospitable, why are they not so 
in reality ? A Monk in vain leads a 
very hard life, fasts, labours, chaunts, 
and reads the Scriptures, if he is not 
charitable ; it is only an uninhahited 
house, where the spider weaves his 
web.' 5 

Converts of St. Antony. "They 
have established an Hospital, which 
has neither funds nor revenues ; but, 
by the abundant alms which they have 
the secret of amassing, it procures 
them immense riches. With a bell in 
the hand, preceded by relicks and a 
cross, a they run over, begging, not only 
all France, but Germany and Spain. 
There is neither fair, nor town, nor 
oven, nor mill where they have not a 
purse suspended. At the season of 
the vintage they go into the country 
to beg wine. The good wives give 
them linen, rings, hoods (guimper), 
clasps, girdles, cheeses, gammons of 
bacon, in one word, all they have got ; 
and every thing comes alike to them. 
This year their pigs will bring them 
5000 silver marks ; for there is not a 
town or castle in France where they 
are not fed/' 13 

" In their Hospital there are fifteen 

b In the wood-cuts of the Golden Legend, An- 
thony has a tau cross (called from him Antonius. 
Du Cange in voce) ; i. e.. like a crutch, with a bell 
hanging from one of the beams, a book in his hand, 
a round hat, long gown, and a pig by his side. Fol. 
xlvii. b. 

c The officers charged with the oversight of the 
markets in the City of London did several times 
take from the market people pigs starved, or other- 
wise unwholesome for man's sustenance. These 
they used to slit in the ear ; and one of the Proc- 



C on verts, fat and large. There they 
buy and sell; they are tradesmen. 
There is not one among them who is 
not worth 500 marks : some even a 
thousand. Besides (du reste) each of 
them has his wife or his kept woman 
(s'amie) ; they marry their girls ad- 
vantageously, leave a good property 
to their children, and keep a good 
house ; but, in all this, Saint Antony 
goes for nothing." 

In the manuscript life of Gerard de 
Sala, we have the following anecdote 
of the 

Nuns of Fontevraud. Having en- 
tered their chapter to preach, he saw 
an abomination to God and Man. The 
Nuns with their hair dressed, and the 
horned head-dress [common in Strutt] 
above. Having beheld these reason- 
able beasts, he began to rave, and they 
were all soon after shorn. 

I. BENEDICTINE RULE. 

Abbot to represent Christ — to call 
all his Monks to council in important 
affairs, and afterwards adopt the ad- 
vice he thought best. Obedience with- 
out delay — silence, no scurrility, idle 
words, or such as excite laughter — 
humility, patience in all injuries ; ma- 
nifestation of secret faults to the Ab- 
bot — contentment with the meanest 
things and employment — not to speak 
when unasked — to avoid laughter — 
head and eyes inclined downwards — 
to rise to Church two hours after mid- 
night — every week the Psalter to be 
sung through — to leave the Church 
together at a sign from the Superior — 
a Dean over every ten Monks in large 



tors for St. Anthony's Hospital (in London), having 
tied a bell about the neck of one of them, and 
turned it to feed on the dunghills, no man would 
hurt or take it up ; but if any gave them bread, or 
other feeding, such they would know, watch for, 
and daily follow, whining till they had somewhat 
given them. From whence arose the Proverb, 
" That stick a one would follow such a one, and 
whine like an Anthony Pig." If one of these Pigs 
grew to be fat, and came to good liking, as often- 
times they would, then the Proctor took it up for 
the use of the Hospital. Mainland's London, 845 ; 
from Stowe. 

d Du Cange, v. Mantica. 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



6/ 



houses. Light in the Dormitory — to 
sleep cloathed, with their girdles on, 
the young and old intermixed. Upon 
successless admonition and public re- 
prehension excommunication; and, in 
failure of this, corporal chastisement. 
For light faults the smaller excommu- 
nication, or eating alone after the 
others had done — for great faults se- 
paration from the table, prayers, and 
society, and neither himself nor food 
to receive the benediction — those who 
joined him or spoke to him to be 
themselves excommunicated — the Ab- 
bot to send seniors to persuade him 
to humility and making satisfaction 
— the whole congregation to pray for 
incorrigible, and, if successless, to pro- 
ceed to expulsion (vide § Chapter). 
No person expelled to be received after 
the third expulsion. Children to be 
punished by fasting or whipping. Cel- 
larer to do nothing without the Abbotts 
order, and in large houses have assist- 
ants. Habits and goods of the house 
to be in the hands of proper officers ; 
the Abbot to have an account of them. 
No property. Distribution according 
to every one's necessities. The Monks 
to serve weekly, and by turns, at the 
kitchen and table. Upon leaving their 
weeks, both he that left it, and he 
that began it, to wash the feet of the 
others, and on Saturday to clean all 
the plates, and the linen which wiped 
the others feet. To resign the dishes 
clean and whole to the Cellarer, who 
was to give them to the new Hebdo- 
madary. These officers to have drink 
and food above the common allow- 
ance before the others, that they might 
wait upon them cheerfully. The Heb- 
domadaries, both entering and retiring 
from office, were on solemn days to 
continue till the Masses ; after Mattins 
on the Sunday to kneel and beg the 
others to pray for them ; then, those 
going out to say a certain prayer three 
times, and receive the benediction ; 
the one coming in to do the same, and 
after benediction go into office. — Infir- 
mary. Its officer. Use of the baths, 
and flesh for the sick ordered. Rule 
mitigated to children and old men, 



who had leave to anticipate the hours 
of eating. Refection in silence, and 
reading Scripture during meals. What 
was wanted to be asked for by a sign. 
Reader to be appointed for the week. 
Two different dishes at dinner, with 
fruit. One pound of bread a day for 
both dinner and supper. No meat 
but to the sick. Three quarters of a 
pint of wine^ye?' day. From Holyrood 
day to Lent dining at Nones ; in Lent 
till Easter at six o'clock ; from Easter 
to Pentecost at Sext; and all summer, 
except on Wednesdays and Fridays, 
then at Nones. Collation or spiritual 
lecture every night before Complin 
(after supper), and, Comphn finished, 
silence. Loss of rank, subtraction 
of wine or their allowance, or sit- 
ting in the place of disgrace, for tar- 
diness at Church or table. Prostra- 
tion with the face towards the ground, 
without the Church-gate, when the 
Monks went to prayers, for the ex- 
communicated. Immediate pardon to 
be sought for a fault in the chant; 
faults in other places, or breaking any 
thing, to be spontaneously acknow- 
ledged before the Abbot and congrega- 
| tion. Abbot to give the signal for 
| going to Church, and nobody to sing 
I or read there without his leave. Work 
from Prime till near ten o'clock from 
Easter till cal. Octob. ; from ten till 
near twelve reading. After refection 
at twelve, the meridian or sleep, unless 
any one preferred reading. After 
Nones labour again till the evening. 
From cal. Oct. to Lent reading till 8 
A.M. then Tierce, and afterwards la- 
bour till Nones. After refection read- 
ing or psalmody. In Lent reading till 
Tierce ; doing what was ordered till 
ten ; delivery of the books at this 
season (vide Dec. Lanfr.). Senior to 
go round the house, and see that the 
Monks were not idle. On Sunday all 
reading except the officers, and the idle 
and infirm who had work given them. 
Particular abstinence in Lent from 
meat, drink, and sleep ; and especial 
gravity. Monks travelling to say the 
canonical hours wherever they hap- 
pened to be. Monks staving out be- 

f 2 



68 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



yond a day not to eat abroad without 
the Abbot's leave. No other use than 
that of prayer to be made of the 
Church. a Strangers to be received 
with prayer (by them and the Monks) ; 
the kiss of peace, prostration and 
washing their feet, as of Christ, whom 
they represented ; then to be led to 
prayer, the Scripture read to them, 
after which the Prior might break his 
fast (except on a high fast). Abbot's 
kitchen and the visitors 5 separate, that 
guests coming in at unseasonable 
hours might not disturb the Monks. 
No letters or presents to be received 
without the Abbot's leave. Abbot to 
invite his Monks when he had no 
strangers. Workmen in the house to 
labour for the common profit. Novices 
to be tried by denials and hard usage 
before admission ; a year of probation ; 
rule read to them in the interim every 
fourth month ; admitted by a petition 
laid upon the altar, and prostration at 
the feet of all the Monks. Parents to 
offer their children by wrapping their 
hands in the pall of the altar, promis- 
ing to leave nothing to them (that they 
might have no temptation to leave the 
house) ; and, if they gave any thing 
with them, to reserve the use of it 
during their lives. Priests requesting 
admission to be tried by delays; to sit 
near the Abbot, but not to exercise 
sacerdotal functions without leave, and 
conform to the rule. Strange Monks 
to be received, and if of good intreated 
to stay. Monks, ordained priests, to 
be subject to the rule and officers, 
or else expelled. Precedence accord- 
ing to the time of profession. Elders 
to call the juniors brothers ; the juniors 
to call the elders nonnos ; b the Abbot 
domnus or pater. When two Monks 



a Thus Theodulphus, Bishop of Orleans, after 
Rennet's sera, says, " Videmus crebro in eeclesiis 
messes et foenum congeri " (we see corn and hay- 
often stored in Churches). Epist. p. 263. — The 
canon against carrying on " trades in Churches," 
in Lyndwood, is well known. 

h There is no satisfactory definition of this word. 
Cancellieri (Lettera sopra Dominus e Domnus, 
Rom. 1808) notes, that in Italy, children use 
Nonno and Nonna to Grandfathers and Grand- 
mothers. Magas. Encycloped. Tom. V. p. 204. 



met, the junior was to ask benediction 
from the senior ; and when he passed 
by, the junior was to rise and give him 
his seat, nor to sit down till he bade 
him. Abbot to be elected by the 
whole society and plurality of votes ; 
his life and prudence to be the qualifi- 
cations. Prior elected by the Abbot ; 
deposable for disobedience. Porter to 
be a wise old man, able to give and re- 
ceive an answer, who was to have 
a cell near the gate, and a junior for a 
companion. If possible, to prevent eva- 
gation, water; a mill, garden, oven, 
and all other mechanical shops to be 
within the house. Monks going on a 
journey to have the previous prayers 
of the house, and, upon return, pray 
for pardon of excesses on the way. 
Impossible things ordered by the su- 
perior to be humbly represented to 
him ; but, if he persisted, the assist- 
ance of God to be relied on for the 
execution of them. Not to defend or 
excuse one another's faults. No blows 
or excommunication without the per- 
mission of the Abbot. Children might 
be corrected with discretion. Mutual 
obedience; but no preference of a pri- 
vate persons commands to those of the 
superiors. Prostration at the feet of 
the superiors as long as they were 
angry. 

Sanctorum Patrum Reguhe Monas- 
ticae, Louv. 12mo. 1571, fol. 9 — 51. 
Joh. de Turrecremata, Concordia Re- 
gularum, &c. &c. &c. 

From this Rule proceeded the 

1. Clugniacs. 
Benedictines, says Bouthillier de la 
Ranee, according to the spirit of the 
Rule. Their peculiarities were — two 
solemn Masses every day ; on private 
scored days no labour allowed, except 
out of the hours of divine service. 
Every day each alternate choir "offered 
their hosts" (singulis diebus suas sin- 
guli hostias alterni chori offerebant), 
although five only on Sundays, and 
three on common days, were used to 
communicate, the rest taking the con- 
secrated wafers before their common 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



69 



food in the manner of Eulogise.* In 
solemn masses of the dead, and the 
three days of rogations, both choirs 
made an offering. In greater solem- 
nities the Deacon communicated from 
the wafer of the celebrating Priest, the 
rest from the other wafers. The Com- 
munion was extended to all three days 
before Easter. If any one on the holy 
Saturday (Sabbath) wished privately 
to perform divine service (sacrum facere) 
he did not use a candle, because the new 
fire was not yet consecrated (see Cone. 
Regul. & Deer. Lanfr.), (especial pecu- 
liarities were used in making the host.) 
Constant silence in the day-time ; al- 
most death to violate it before Prime ; 
hence the use of signs among them 
instead of words. From the ides of 
November the seniors attended to me- 
ditation in the Church after Mattins, 
whilst the juniors diligently studied 
singing in the Chapter. Manual la- 
bour was accompanied with the repeti- 
tion of psalms. The proclamation 
of crimes was usual among them. 
Strangers were not admitted after 
Complin, nor leave of refection after 
that time granted to the Monks who 
were absent from the common table. 
A Monk just going to mount his horse 
to go out, if the bell for divine service 
happened to ring, was to delay his 
journey, and proceed to the Church. 
In the fasts they nearly observed the 
Rule of Benedict. From the ides of 
September they ate only once a day ; 
but in feasts of 12 lessons and the 
octaves of Christmas and Epiphany 
twice. On those feasts, after dinner 
and reading in the Cloister, Nones 
having been said, they went to the re- 
fectory to drink ; but on private days 
this was done only after Vespers and 
reading ; and when that was over read- 



c These were loaves offered in the Church for 
alms, and consecrated, from a part of which the 
host was taken, and they were given to those who, 
from any impediment, could not take the sacrament. 
They were given after the Mass by the Priest, a 
little before the dismissal, and were kissed before 
eating. Eulogies privates were loaves consecrated, 
and sent as presents, by Ecclesiasticks, to each 
other. Du Cange, v. Eulogies. See Hot-cross 
Buns, Ch. V. 



ing again ; then the spiritual lecture 
or collation before Complin. The re- 
mains of the bread and wine were 
given by the Almoner to pilgrims pe- 
destrians. Eighteen poor were fed 
every day ; but in Lent an amazing 
number. The manual labour, says 
Udalricus, was " to shell unripe beans, 
or weed in the garden, and sometimes 
make bread in the bake-house " (fabas 
novas et nondum bene maturas de fol- 
liculis suis egerere, vel in horto malas 
herbas et inutiles, et quee bonas herbas 
suffocabant eruere, et aliquando panes 
formare in pistrino). Udalricus Anti- 
quiores Consuetudines Cluniacensis 
Monasterii in D'Acherii Spicilegium, 
IV. 39. The above is from this writer, 
and Mabillon^s Annales Benedictini, 
III. 389, seq. The abuses and dege- 
neracy of this order may be seen in the 
Appendix to Reyner's Apost. Benedict, 
and MS. Cott. Tiber, b. XIII.; extracts 
from which MS. (i. e. from the parts 
unpublished in Anglia Sacra, vol. II.) 
are given elsewhere. — [The Rule is ex- 
cessively voluminous, and defies abridg- 
ment regularly ; therefore the learned 
must go to the original. I am indebted 
principally to Mabillon. Ceremonies, 
not customs, form the mass of the 
Rule.] A reformation of it in Bulla- 
rium Roman, vol. 1. p. 101. 

2. Cistercians. 

Benedictines, according to the letter 
of the Rule, without mitigation (" in 
quo," says Mabillon, "regula sine ulla 
mitigatione ad apicem servaretur.") 
Their peculiarities I shall give from 
Dugdale^s Warwickshire, which I have 
compared with Malmesburyand Knigh- 
ton. "First, for their habits they 
wear no leather or linen, nor indeed 
any fine woollen cloth ; neither, except 
it be on a journey, do they put on any 
breeches, and then upon their return, 
deliver them fair washed. Having two 
coats with cowls, in winter time they 
are not to augment, but in summer 
if they please may lessen them ; in 
which habit they are to sleep, and 
after Mattins not to return to their 
beds. For prayers, the hour of Prime 



70 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



they so conclude, that before the 
Laudes it may be day-break, strictly 
observing their rule, that not one iota 
or tittle of their service is omitted. 
Immediately after Laudes they sing 
the Prime ; and after Prime they goe 
out performing their appointed hours 
in work. What is to be clone in the 
day they act by clay-light ; for none of 
them, except he be sick, is to be absent 
from his diurnal hours, or the Com- 
pline. When the Compline is finished 
the steward of the house and he that 
hath charge of the guests go forth, but 
with great care of silence serve them. 
For diet, the Abbot assumes no more 
liberty to himself than any of his Con- 
vent, every where being present with 
them, and taking care of his flock, 
except at meat, in regard his table is 
always with the strangers and poor peo- 
ple. Nevertheless, wheresoever he eats 
he is abstemious of talk or any dainty 
fare, nor hath he or any of them ever 
above two dishes of meat ; neither do 
they eat of fat or flesh except in case 
of sickness ; and from the ides of Sep- 
tember till Easter they eat no more 
than once a day, except on Sundays, 
no not on any festivals. Out of the 
precints of their Cloyster they go not 
but to work, a neither there nor any 
where do they discourse with any but 
the Abbot or Prior. They unwearieclly 
continue their canonical hours, not 
piecing any service to another except 
the vigils for the deceased. They 
observe the office of St. Ambrose, 
so far as they could have perfect 
knowledge thereof from Millain; and 
taking care of strangers and sick peo- 
ple, do devise extraordinary afflictions 
for their own bodies, to the intent their 

a Their manual labour was as follows : ''In 
Summer, after Chapter, which followed Prime, 
they worked till Tierce, and after Nones till Ves- 
pers. In Winter, from after Mass till Nones, and 
even to Vespers during Lent. In harvest, when 
they went to work in the farms, they said Tierce, 
and the conventual Maps immediately after Prime, 
that nothing might hinder their work for the rest 
of the morning ; and often they said divine service 
in the places where they were at work, and at the 
same hours as those at home celebrated in the 
Church." Dev. Vie Monast. II. Stf. 



souls may be advantaged." Hospinian 
says thus, De Orig. et Progr. Monach. 
p. 313, of them; a year's probation — 
no reception of fugitives after the third 
time — all fasts observed according to 
the rule — prostration to visitors and 
washing their feet — Abbot's table al- 
ways with guests and pilgrims — labour 
more than the rule required — delicate 
habits exploded — obsolete and primi- 
tive fervour endeavoured to be revived 
by them. — Avarice was the great vice 
of this order. They were great deal- 
ers in wool ; generally very ignorant ; 
and, in fact, farmers more than 
Monks. The authors who have writ- 
ten upon this order (and indeed every 
other) are enumerated by Fabricius ; 
and I wish the learned may have the 
good fortune to find them, which I had 
not (at least most of them), though I 
tried the best library in the kingdom, 
the Boclleian. b 

3. Grandmontines. 

Benedictines, with certain exceptions 
directed against the wealth, luxury, and 
secular conduct of the parent Monks. 
By these exceptions poverty and obe- 
dience were especially inculcated; no 
lands or Churches were allowed beyond 
the limits of the house. They were to 
reserve nothing offered for Masses, 
nor exercise a right of penance over 
others. On Sundays and festivals se- 
culars were not admitted to their 
Church. Possession of cattle was for- 
bidden. If oppressed by poverty they 
were to have recourse to the bishop ; 
and, if he did not relieve them, after 
fasting two days, two brothers, sturdy 
in religion, were to beg alms from door 
to door. Fairs, traffic, and trials were 
forbidden. Women were not admitted 
into the order, nor men of another or- 
der, nor seculars under twenty years 
of age. Silence in the Church, Clois- 
ter, Refectory, and Dormitory, and 
from Complin till after Chapter. Care 
of temporals in the lay-brothers ; even 
the ornaments of the Church to be 

b The Usus Cisterciensium is the main book. 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



71 



sold for alms. The flesh both of birds 
and quadrupeds was forbidden. Re- 
fection twice from Easter to the Exal- 
tation of the Cross. From Exaltation 
to Easter perpetual fast (except Sun- 
days and Christmas), and then one re- 
fection after Nones ; from Lent to 
Easter after Vespers. From All Saints 
to Christmas only Lent food ; but on 
other days out of Lent eggs and cheese 
were allowed. At the election of the 
Prior of Grammont, two brothers from 
every cell assembled at Grammont, 
out of which twelve were elected to 
choose the Prior, six clerks, and as many 
lay-brothers. When elected, he could 
not leave the Cloister of Grammont 
but from urgent necessity. The Rule 
in short turned upon three points : im- 
prisonment in the house ; perpetual 
silence ; and a distinction of the Her- 
mits, totally absorbed in contemplation, 
and Lay-brethren, who had the care of 
the Temporals, and of course took ad- 
vantage of the others. This silly Rule 
is in Martene's Anecdota, Vol. IV. ; 
whence extracts are given in this 
work. 

4. Carthusians. 

Variety of superstitious gestures and 
ceremonies ; as faces totally hid at the 
canon of the Mass (i. e. words of con- 
secrating the Eucharist), shewn at 
other times ; ringers not clenched ; legs 
not extended, spread, or crossed. Pri- 
vate prayer at the Altar once a day ; 
omitted when any frailty had been in- 
curred. " In the time of Matins, in 
which there is an interval before Lauds, 
no one left the Church but from neces- 
sity. Between Matins and Tierce every 
day spiritual exercises ; from Tierce to 
Sext, and from Nones to Vespers, ma- 
nual labour; to be interrupted with 
short prayers ; from Vespers to Com- 
plin manual labour ; reading, however, 
not excluded at these times. No dis- 
ciplines, vigils (not of this institution), 
nor abstinences, except those of the 
order, allowed. Hours not to be said 
in another's cell, unless the brother 



was there at work with the inhabitant ; 
silence in the cell ; cell door not open, 
unless another person was with the in- 
habitant. To ask for what they wanted 
after Nones on a talking day. If any 
brother came to the cell he was inter- 
rogated, whether he had the Prior's or 
his substituted licence ; if not, the but- 
ler or porter was to procure it, other- 
wise they could not be conversed 
with. Departure from another's cell 
or elsewhere after Complin. No con- 
versation with persons coming up with- 
out the Prior's licence, but only with 
those they were working with. Not to 
enter the cells of others without licence. 
No letters to be sent or received. Not 
to leave the cell except to confession or 
conference by the Prior's order. No 
pottage or pittance, only raw herbs 
and fruits to be kept in the cell. Every 
inhabitant to have two books to read, 
besides other writing and necessary 
utensils. In Chapter no speech, but 
at confession or when the Chapter was 
held. In the Refectory dining bare- 
headed; drinking with two hands; bow- 
ing to those who brought or removed 
anything; no wiping of hands or mouths 
at the cloth. Plates not uncovered, nor 
cloths turned up before the presiding 
officers. No speech in the Fratry, 
Cloister, or Church. To go out to 
common labour only thrice on three days 
in the year : 1. In the second week 
after the octaves of Easter ; another 
in the second week after the festival of 
Peter and Paul; 3d. in the first week 
after Michaelmas. A Novice to be re- 
commended to a senior, who at suitable 
times was to instruct him in saying 
the hours and other observances, which 
he was to take great pains about for a 
week, or longer if necessary ; and, till 
such Novice could say the hours, no 
one was to visit the cell but the Prior 
or Proctor. The summer meridian or 
sleep. Conversation after Nones, from 
November to Easter, of the customs 
of the order ; afterwards of the Gos- 
pels. From Exaltation of the Cross, 
eating only once a day. General con- 



72 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



fession on the Sabbath ; private con- 
fession besides. — From the rule in 
Monast. Anglic. I. 951 — 958. 



II. THREE AUGUSTINIAN RULES. 

Rule I. PROPERTY relinquished 
by the applicant for admission. Pro- 
bation by the Prior. Nothing to be 
taken • away by a Canon leaving the 
order from necessity. Any thing offered 
to be accepted by the Prior's approba- 
tion. The rule to be observed from 
the Superior downwards. Punishment 
denounced for contumacy, and offences 
declared to the Propositus, before 
whom disagreements were also to be 
laid. Property detained through ne- 
cessity as above to be delivered to the 
Superior. — Rule II. What Psalms, &c. 
to be sung at the hours and nightly 
readings immediately after Vespers. 
Labour from the morning till Sext, 
and from Sext till Nones reading. After 
refection work till Vespers. Two to 
be sent together on the Convent busi- 
ness. No one to eat or drink out of the 
house. Brothers sent to sell things not 
to do any thing against the Rule. No 
idle talk or gossiping, but sitting at 
work in silence. — Rule III. Union in 
one house. Food and raiment dis- 
tributed by the Superior. Every thing 
common. Consideration to be had of 
infirmity ; against pride on account of 
difference of birth. Concord. Atten- 
tion to divine service at the proper 
hours. Not to make other use of the 
Church than that it was destined to, 
except praying in it, out of the proper 
hours, when they had leisure or incli- 
nation. When psalm-singing to re- 
volve it in the heart. Not to sing but 
what was enjoined to be sung. Fast- 
ing and abstinence. Those who did 
not fast to take nothing beyond the 
usual time of dining, except when sick. 
Reading during dinner. Better food 
for the sick, not to make the others 
discontented. Better provisions and 
clothes for those of delicate habits, 
not to disgust the others. Sick to be 
treated in recovery as suitable ; return 
to the usual habit when well. Habit 
not conspicuous. To walk together 



when going out, and stand together 
at the journey's end. Nothing offen- 
sive in gait, habit, or gestures. Not 
to fix their eyes upon women. Mu- 
tually to preserve each other's modesty 
when two together, in a Church where 
women were. Punishment by the Su- 
perior for such offences. Receipt of 
letters or presents to be punished un- 
less voluntarily confessed. Cloaths 
from one common vestiary, as food 
from one cellar. Labour for the com- 
mon good. Vestments sent by relatives 
| to be stored in the common vestiary. 
Same punishment for concealment as of 
theft. Clothes washed, according to the 
order of the Superior, either by them- 
selves or fullers. W T ashing the body 
in case of infirmity by medical advice, 
or, on refusal of that, by the order of 
the Superior. Not to go to the baths 
but by two or three, and then with 
the person appointed by the Superior. 
Sick to have an Infirmarer. Cellarers, 
Chamberlains, or Librarians, to serve 
the brethren with good-will. Books 
not to be obtained but at the stated 
hour. Clothes and shoes to be delivered 
when needed. No lawsuits or quarrels, 
or terminated as quick as possible. 
Satisfaction to be made for offences, 
and speedy forgiveness in the offended. 
Harsh expressions avoided, and an 
apology made when uttered. Obe- 
dience to the Superior, who, if he 
spoke harsh, was not to beg pardon. 
Obedience to the head over them, but 
especially to the Priest, who had the 
care of the whole house. Superior, 
when his authority was not sufficient, 
to have recourse to that of the Elder 
or Priest. Superior to govern in Cha- 
rity ; to be strict in discipline, yet aim 
more to be loved than feared. Rule to 
be read in the presence of the Monks 
once a week. Monast. Anglic, vol. II. 
&c. &c. 

To this Rule were adapted the fol- 
lowing orders : 

1 . Pra&monsiratensians. 

Novices to be of a proper age ; able 
before profession to read well, under- 
stand grammar, and know Latin. Ille- 
gitimates not to be admitted, accord- 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



73 



ing to the decree of Sixtus the Fifth ; 
but Abbots might dispense with this 
on account of merit. Novices con- 
fessed to the Masters : not to be pro- 
fessed before eighteen. The object of 
the institution pure contemplative life. 

The Summer regulations were — Daily 
chapter. Twice refection from Easter 
to Holyrood, except certain days. 
From Chapter (after Prime) work. Af- 
ter Tierce great Mass, immediately 
followed by Sext, then reading, then 
refection ; after this sleep till Nones ; 
after Nones drinking, then Vespers ; 
after Vespers reading till collation. 
On Sundays the same, except reading 
instead of work. In fasts Mass after 
Sext ; reading till Nones ; after Nones 
refection and sleep. In harvest times 
Mass early in the morning ; same in 
feasts of twelve lessons " which were 
not observed in the diocese'' At this 
period working from Prime to Sext, 
and dining out of the house, if needful, 
and sleeping, if not above a French 
mile from the Abbey ; if afar off to 
work till Vespers, and, after singing 
them in the fields, to return home. 

Winter regulations. — From Sept. 14, 
to Easter, continual fast and dining 
after Nones, except Sundays and 
Christmas ; Tierce after Chapter with- 
out an interval; after Tierce mixtus 
for the boys and infirm, after Tierce 
work till Sext; after Sext Mass; read- 
ing till Nones ; after Nones refection ; 
then reading or work till Vespers ; after 
these reading till collation. On feasts 
of nine lessons and Sabbaths Tierce 
delayed ; Mass said after it, and im- 
mediately followed by Sext; others 
the same. Sundays same as in Sum- 
mer, except that Nones was said after 
refection, because there was no sleep 
before it. On all festivals, when there 
was no work, to read instead in the 
working hours. In Lent the seven 
penitential Psalms were said by the Con- 
vent prostrate ; Tierce followed with- 
out interval ; Mass after Nones ; refec- 
tion after Vespers ; after refection read- 
ing, and, in case of any necessity, work. 
Bibliotheca Preemonstratensis, vol. I. 
p. 24, 789, 90, where the Rule, filling 
nearly a folio volume. Their Abbots 



were never to use any episcopal insig- 
nia. All the Abbots to meet once a 
year at Premontre, to consult about 
the affairs of the order : penalty for 
non-attendance to be taken off only 
by the Pope himself. Abbots to have 
power of excommunicating and ab- 
solving their Monks. Differences 
arising to be composed among them- 
selves, and no appeal to be allowed to 
secular courts. Not to keep or feed 
dogs, hawks, swine, &c. Exemption 
from the Bishop's jurisdiction. Ordi- 
nation upon refusal of the Diocesan 
from any other Bishop. No schools 
for the education of youth among them. 
Id. The Presmonstratensian Nuns did 
not sing in the Choir and Church ; 
prayed in silence. Priests and Clerks 
dwelt apart, who instructed them in 
Scripture at certain seasons, and heard 
their confessions. Launoii Opuscula 
varia, III. 134. 

2. Trinitarians. 

Government by a minister. Vow 
of chastity and poverty. Third part of 
comings-in (the properest term) to be 
devoted to the redemption of Christian 
captives from infidels. Of cloaths and 
shoes, and small matters for use, the 
Convent to deliberate whether they 
should be sold or not, in the Sunday 
chapter; if sold, the third part to be 
used as above. All the churches to be 
of plain work, and dedicated to the 
Trinity. Three clerks and three lay- 
men in the house besides the Minister. 
Sleep in their cloaths ; no feather beds 
nor counterpanes, only pillows allowed. 
Gowns to be marked. To ride upon 
asses. Wine to be drank so as not to 
invade sobriety. Fasting from the ides 
of September on Monday, Wednesday, 
Friday, and Sabbath (except festivals 
intervening and Sundays), till Easter 
on Lent food. Usual fast of the 
Church. Minister might relax it from 
age, travelling, or any just cause. Flesh 
only on certain Sundays. To buy 
nothing but beans, peas, pulse, pot- 
herbs, oil, eggs, milk, cheese, and fruit ; 
no flesh, fish, nor wine, except for the 
sick, minuti, or poor, or in great so- 
lemnities they might buy and bring up 



74 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



articles of food. Wine allowed spa- 
ringly on journeys, and fish in Lent if 
necessary. The residue of presents to 
undergo the triple division. The whole 
if they were on a journey to redeem 
captives, after expenses were paid, to 
be devoted to that purpose. In towns 
where there were houses of the Order 
to eat only in them. Allowed to drink 
water in creditable houses, but not to 
sleep elsewhere than above, or use 
taverns. Same food, clothing, dormi- 
tory, refectory, and table for Brothers, 
Clerks, and Laymen. Sick to sleep 
and eat apart under a lay or clerk In- 
firmarer. Sick not to require delicate 
food. Strangers to be received, but no 
oats, except to poor religious, if any 
was to be bought in the place. Labour. 
Silence in Church. Fratry. Dormi- 
tory. Speech of necessary matters at 
fit times, in a low voice. Chapter 
every Sunday. Accounts of the re- 
demption-money interchangeably set- 
tled between the Minister and Brethren. 
Sermon to the whole establishment. 
No accusation without proof, or the 
accuser to undergo the punishment the 
accused had been liable to. The pu- 
nishment of raising scandals or striking 
in the breast of the minister. To beg 
pardon even to three times of the party 
offended. If it should become public 
pardon to be solicited at the feet of the 
Minister, who was to settle the matter 
ad arbitrium. When the offence existed 
only between brother and brother, and 
no other person knew it, private admo- 
nition, to repent and not do the like 
again, from the party injured, for three 
times. General chapter once in the 
year in the octaves of Pentecost. Debts 
about to be contracted first canvassed 
in Chapter. In case of violence done 
to the property of the house, admoni- 
tion first to the party from the Convent, 
afterwards from the neighbours. Elec- 
tion of the Minister of the order by 
common consent; to be a priest or 
clerk fit for orders. Minister of the 
order to hear the confessions of all the 
brothers of all the houses ; lesser Mi- 
nister those of his own house. Minis- 
ter to see the rule observed. Deposi- 



tion by the greater Minister, and three 
or four lesser ones : if the greater 
Minister was too far off, by lesser ones 
deputed by him. Greater Minister 
deposed by four or five lesser ones 
authorized by the general Chapter. 
Year's probation of Novices, longer if 
necessary, during wdiich he retained 
his property. Men received if agree- 
able to the Convent, and there was a 
vacancy. No one to be received before 
twenty years old. Profession in the 
will of the Minister. No pledges {piy- 
nora ; I am not certain whether it may 
not have a more extensive meaning), 
except tithes with the Bishop's consent, 
or oaths allowed, except on very extra- 
ordinary occasions, with licence of the 
Minister of the order, of the Bishop, 
or any one executing apostolical func- 
tions. Faults in things sold to be 
notified to the buyer; no deposits of 
money, &c. to be received. Sick to 
confess, and communicate the first 
day of their coming. Every Monday 
after Mass, except at certain seasons, 
absolution of all faithful persons buried 
in the cemetery. Every night, at least, 
in the guest-house or almonry (hospi- 
talis) in the presence of the poor, 
prayer for the holy Roman Church, 
all Christendom, pious benefactors, &c. 
Manner of St. Victor in the regular 
hours. Tonsure of St. V. Laymen not 
to shave their beards. Monast. II. 
830, 1. 

3. Dominicans, 

Followed, according to the " Scrip- 
tores Ordinis Prredicatorum," vol. I. 
p. 12, the Rule of Austin, with severe 
additions in food,- fasts, bedding, gar- 
ments, and utter dereliction of property. 
Of the first Dominicans (says Surius, 
1. VI. v. IV. p. 544, seq. in August.), 
the Novices were perfectly instructed. 
Silence was rigidly observed ; and, af- 
ter Complin till Tierce, praying 100 or 
200 times a day. Complin. Salve 
regina, &c. Disciplines. Confessions 
before Mass. Wonderful abstinence, as 
stopping eight days without drink. Vast 
respect for the Virgin Mary. Frequent 
preaching. A general Chapter yearly 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



75 



(says Hospinian, de Orig. et Progr. 
Monach. 392,3). Long fasts, for seven 
months together, from Holyrood-day 
till Easter, and at other times on Fri- 
days, with some other days. No flesh 
except to the sick. Only woollen in 
dress and beds, nor even with counter- 
panes (culcitris). No intercourse with 
women. Silence at certain places and 
hours ; that at table first founded by 
Jordan of Paris, general of the order 
about 1226". Buildings low, suitable 
to their poverty. Cloister and in it 
cells accommodated for study, and in 
the cells an image of the Virgin Mary 
and Crucifix. More particulars of this 
order may be found in the citations I 
have given from MS. Cott. Nero A. 
XII. Constit. Fratrum ; which, from 
the single term fratreSy should belong 
to the Dominicans. 

4. Knights Hospitalers. 

Vows of chastity, poverty, and obe- 
dience. To have nothing but bread, 
water, and clothes. Clerks to serve at 
the Altar in white dresses. Priest, 
Deacon, and Sub-deacon, and, if neces- 
sary, another clerk. Light in the 
Church night and day. Priest with the 
Host, Deacon, or Sub-deacon, or other 
clerk, with the lantern and a sponge 
with holy water, to visit the sick. 
Knights to go out (not alone) but by 
two or three, with companions order- 
ed by the masters, and to stand to- 
gether at their journey's end. No wo- 
men to wash their heads or feet, or 
make their beds. To ask food only in 
begging alms, and buy nothing else. 
Not to receive either lands or pledges, 
but to give an account of what they 
received to the Master, and he to send 
it with that writing to the house. Mas- 
ter to have the third part of the bread 
and wine and food (nutrimentum) of 
all obediences ; the superfluity to alms. 
None to go to the collections but those 
whom the Chapter and Master of the 
Church sent. In their collections to 
put up with such food as the other 
Knights had amongst themselves, and 
to carry a light, and have that light 
burning before them in every house 



(hospitales) they went into. Not to 
wear unsuitable clothes. To eat but 
twice in a day, and on Wednesday and 
Sunday, and from Septuagesima to 
Easter, no flesh, the infirm and sick 
excepted. Never to sleep naked, but 
clothed in camelot (see chap. III.) li- 
nen or woollen, or some such dress. 
A Knight committing fornication to 
repent privately and enjoin penance 
upon himself; if discovered, he was, 
upon a Sunday after Mass, in the town 
where he had committed it, in the pre- 
sence of all the people, to be stripped 
and beat by the master and brethren, 
and then expelled : if, however, he did 
suitable penance for a whole year, in a 
strange place, he might be received 
again if the Knights chose it. The pu- 
nishment of altercation was seven days 
dining on the ground, without table 
and cloth, and fasting Wednesday and 
Friday on bread and water. Any one 
who struck another to be in the forty 
days' fast. If any one eloped from the 
house or master he had been committed 

i to, similar forty days' penance, besides 
staying in a strange place as long as 
the time of his absence, except it was 
so long that the Chapter thought fit to 
moderate it. Silence in dinner and in 
bed, and no drinking after Complin. 

| Brothers incorrigible after a third ad- 
monition to be sent to Jerusalem on 
foot. Not to strike the servants. If 
any Knight took the property of a 
deceased one (so I venture to render 
(i in morte sua proprietatem habuerit, 
et magistro suo celaverit, ac postea 
super eum inventa fuerit"), and the 
money was found upon him, it was to 
be tied round his neck, himself severely 
beaten by the others, and the forty- 
days' fast enjoined as above. Trental 
or thirty-days' Mass for the dead : in 
the first Mass an offering of a candle 
or money by every Knight, which mo- 
ney was given to the poor; Priest who 
sung the Mass, if not of the house, to 
have a procuration ; upon the end of 
the office the Master to make a charity 
for him ; all the clothes of the deceased 
given to the poor ; brothers priests to 
say prayers for him ; the clerks to sing 



76 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



a Psalter, and laymen say 150 Lord's 
prayers. Chapter for deciding on 
crimes, business, and accusations. Sick 
received with confession; communion; 
afterwards carried to bed, and then, 
according to the ability of the house, 
charitably refreshed every day before 
the Knights went to dinner. Every 
Sunday the Epistle and Gospel sung, 
procession and sprinkling of holy water. 
If any obedientiary (officer) gave the 
goods of the house to secular persons, 
for the sake of governing, to be expel- 
led. If two or more Knights went to- 
gether, and one behaved ill, he was not 
to be exposed, but one of the others 
was to reprimand him in a friendly 
manner ; and, if he would not amend 
himself, to get two or three others to 
join him and chastise him; if this 
would not do to be punished as the 
Master and Chapter directed. Not to 
accuse another without proof. The 
cross to be worn upon their robes and 
cloaks. When any one wished to be 
admitted a Knight, he was to come to 
the Chapter on a Sunday, ask the con- 
sent of the house, and, on consent of 
the majority, be received ; after certain 
exhortations and engagements, to take 
the missal in both his hands, make an 
oath, go to the Church, lay the book 
upon the altar, and bring it back ; the 
person who was to make him a Knight 
then to take the missal from him, and 
give him the missal with a suitable 
prayer. Those who sought the frater- 
nity only, to take a like oath upon the 
missal ; to promise to love the house 
and Knights ; to defend them with 
their utmost ability from all evil-doers 
(malefactoribus) ; defend the property 
of the house, and, if not able to do 
this, make the evil known ; to engage 
that, if they took any religious order, 
it should be that ; and, if they died 
without, to be buried in their cemetery, 
and make an annual present to the 
house. Upon this to receive the peace ; 
and their names, and what they pro- 
mised to give annually, to be entered 



in the register. 
493—7. 



Monast. Anglic. II. 



These military orders, it seems, were 
augmented by the entrance of many 
noble persons abroad, after the de- 
parture of the two kings (Richard I. 
and Philip of France) ; which noble 
persons bestowed all their transmarine 
property upon them. — Unicum tamen 
memorabile hoc tempore contigit quod 
multi ingenui et nobiles viri post regum 
et principum discessum in terra sancta 
permanserunt, atque sese militaribus 
ordinibus adjunxerunt, omnibus suis 
bonis transmarinis iisdem attributis. 
Pantaleon de Ord. Joannitarum, 1. II. 
p. 63, anno 1193. 

Rules blended, or unconnected with 
the Benedictine and Augustinian. 

1. Knights Templars. 

Rule composed by Bernard. Regu- 
lar service ; so many Lord's Prayers 
instead if they could not attend. Mass 
for a dying Knight, and 100 Lord^s 
Prayers for him afterwards for seven 
days ; same allowance as to him when 
alive to a poor man for forty days. 
Chaplains only to have food and rai- 
ment. Seven days of support to a 
poor man for the brothers deceased 
who lived with them only for a term. 
No offerings to be made. Not to 
stand immoderately long during divine 
service. Eating in one common refec- 
tory ; reading there. Flesh only three 
times a week except on certain festivals. 
Two meals on Sunday; the armigeri 
and client es only one. Refection by 
two and two ; wine singly in equal 
portions. Monday, Wednesday, and 
Saturday, two or three meals of escu- 
lents ; Friday Lent food. Grace after 
meals. Tenth loaf to the poor. Col- 
lation before Complin, whether of 
water only, or water mixed with wine, 
in the regulation of the master. Silence 
after Complin. Not to rise to Matins 
when fatigued. Same food to all. Three 
horses to every Knight. One servant 
to every Knight, who was not to be 
beaten by them. Horses, arms, &c. to 
be found for Knights who staid with 
them for a term ; at going away part 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



77 



of the price to be paid by the Knight, 
the rest from the common stock. To 
do nothing from their own will. Not 
to go to the town without leave of the 
master. Not to go alone. Not to 
seek what they wanted by name (no- 
minatim). Regulation of their bri- 
dles, spurs, &c. Not to speak boast- 
ingly of their faults. Not to keep any 
presents till permitted by the master. 
Not to make or use bags for their 
horses to eat out of, but have bas- 
kets. Not to exchange or seek any 
thing. Not to hawk. Not to kill 
beasts with bow or cross-bow. To at- 
tend to justice. To have lands and 
property. Necessaries to be given to 
the sick. Not to provoke one another 
to anger. Married Knights to be ad- 
mitted, provided they gave after their 
death a portion of their substance, and 
whatever more they had acquired, to 
the society. Not to have sisters. Not 
associate with excommunicated persons. 
Secular Knights to be received into the 
order if after probation they conformed 
to the rule. All the Knights not called 
to the secret rule to observe silence in 
their praying. To receive the service 
of servants, except they behaved with 
theft or indecency. No little boys to 
be received into the order. Old men 
always to be respected. Knights tra- 
velling to observe the rule. Equal 
food to all. Allowed to have tithes. 
Expulsion for disobedience, obstinacy, 
and rebellion. Linen shirts allowed 
from Easter to All Saints, ex gratia ; 
woollen at other times. Sleeping in 
their shirts and breeches. To avoid 
murmuring. Not to give kisses to 
women. Stellartius de Reg. et Fund. 
Monachor. p. 469. D'Emilliane (Short 
Hist, of Monast. Orders, p. 279) says, 
that their greatness and power occa- 
sioning jealousy in the Pope and seve- 
ral Kings, their destruction was re- 
solved on; and, before execution, 
several horrid crimes published, none 
of which could ever be proved. Their 
guilt, however, is very strenuously in- 
sisted on by the Abbe Barruel, Mem. 
of Jacobinism, II. 372 — 387. 



2. Gilber tines. 

The rule is considered generally as a 
compound of those of Bennet and Au- 
gustine ; but it seems more accurate 
and close to say, that the Canons were 
Premonstratensians, and the Nuns Cis- 
tercians. This rule had Canons and 
Nuns separated, but under the same 
roof. Master of the whole order ; 
chosen by thirteen Electors (four De- 
puties, five Priors, and four Claustrals) ; 
had two Canons for Chaplains, and a 
Lay-brother for a servant ; received 
persons into the order ; heard confes- 
sion ; his sanction necessary to buying 
and selling ; disobedience to him to be 
considered as incurring the penalty of 
excommunication ; appointed certain 
officers; Scrutators and Scrutatrices for 
visiting Monks and Nuns : same of- 
ficers in the Cloister ; four officers in 
every house, called a Prior, Cellerer, 
Proctor, and Grangiary, for managing 
and distributing the goods of the house. 
Novices not to be readers nor atten- 
dants at the table, but sometimes at 
collation and chapter : after Profession, 
under custody of the Masters forty days, 
or a little more. Canons' garments 
washed by the lay sisters. A Canon 
inspector and superintendant of the 
work-shops. From cal. Nov. to Eas- 
ter, sleep or reading after Matins, 
Prime, then Mass and the private ones 
before Tierce, if possible, if not, after ; 
after Tierce, the Chapter. From Eas- 
ter to September Chapter after Prime, 
and the conventual Mass after Tierce, 
and between Prime and Tierce labour. 
After Chapter reading in the Cloister. 
Dinner. After dinner reading in the 
cloister, or sleeping in the Dormitory 
(during Summer.) Collation ; Com- 
plin; Dormitory. — Of the Nuns. Tith- 
ing of lambs, and the whole substance 
of the house under the care of the 
Nuns. Three Nuns to keep the com- 
mon seal and money. One to cut and 
distribute the cloth. The same Nuns 
to take care of washing the clothes, 
and patching and mending them. Ac- 
counts of money expended before it 
came to the Nuns to be notified to the 



78 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



Prioress. Nuns to be shut in by a 
ditch and wall, or fence. Entrance to 
their court prohibited. No presents 
or letters sent to them, No conversa- 
tion allowed between the Canons and 
them. Fire not to be begged of them 
at night. No one to have admission 
to the Nuns whilst they were singing 
the hour, or were in the Refectory or 
Dormitory. If any entered on business 
to be in a number, and to take care 
not to see or to be seen by the Nuns. 
If the grand Prior entered a number 
of them were to surround him imme- 
diately, at least three or four, and none 
to be alone with him, except to confess, 
and then with others in sight. One 
cellar and kitchen to all, under the care 
of a Prioress and Nuns. Shirts or 
breeches of the Canons not to be cut 
out or sewed by the Nuns. Place to 
be appointed in the court for Nuns 
and Sisters to talk with the Prioress 
and Cellaress, standing, and two only 
with her. Maundy. Adoration of the 
Cross. Lay-sisters to clean the area 
of the Church at Easter while the Nuns 
were at dinner ; Cloister and Chapter 
after Complin. No Nun to be re- 
ceived compulsorily. Nuns not to go out 
to labour, or to receive shoes of cord- 
wain, to use or " ad erogandum " (per- 
haps, let out). To be shaved at Easter, 
Mary Magdalen's day, and All Saints, 
at least. To wash their hoods seven 
times a year. Not to go to another 
house ; punishment of disobedience. 
Not to be intimate with the lay-sisters. 
Readings four times a year by the 
nuns to the lay-sisters, as by the canons 
to the lay-brothers. Discord to be shun- 
ned between the Canons and Brothers, 
Nuns and Sisters. Bath prohibited. 
Monast. Anglic. II. 699-790. Abridged 
in the Abridgement of the Monasticon 
assigned to Capt. Steevens. — It is sin- 
gular that, notwithstanding the story 
of the poor Nun in Alfred of Rievesby 
and Bale, Nigel Wireker says nothing 
of this order but what observation of 
the rule implies ; but it was yet young 
when he wrote. — As there is a more 
copious account of nuns to be found 



here than elsewdiere, I shall cite largely 
from this long rule in the course of my 
work. 

3. Carmelites. 

Rule founded upon that of Basil ; 
but even that is disj^uted ; for Lynd- 
wood and others say, that all the reli- 
gious followed one of the three orders, 
Benedictine, Augustinian, or Francis- 
can (p. 213). The rule was — Prior 
elected unanimously, or by majority. 
To have places in deserts or elsewhere ; 
separate cells ; common refectory and 
reading. Not to change their places 
without the prior's leave. Prior's cell 
near the entrance of the house, that he 
might be the first to meet comers. All 
to remain in their cells, meditating day 
and night. At fit hours in church. 
Cloisters. To stay and walk freely and 
lawfully [libere et licite). Canonical 
! hours. Paternosters by the ignorant. 
i All things common. Asses or mules 
I allowed, and nourishment of animals 
| or birds. Church in the middle of the 
j cells. Sundays, or at other times, as 
necessary, the correction of abuses. 
No flesh but to the sick. To carry 
with them, to eat on journeys, dump- 
lings (pulmenta, a very equivocal term 
among the monks) drest with flesh. 
Fast every day except Sunday from 
Holyrood-day to Easter, except the 
sick and infirm. Chastity; labour; 
silence after Complin till Prime ; might 
talk at other times moderately. P. 
Stellartius, id supra, p. 461. — There is 
a mitigation of this rule, Anno 1247, 
in the Bullarium Romanum, vol. I. 
p. 116. 

4. Franciscans. 

Novitiates to be received by the 
provincial Priors, and no others, after 
a year's profession ; dereliction of pro- 
perty and wives. Divine service ac- 
cording to the Romish Church, except 
the Psalter, of which they were to have 
breviaries (excepto Psalterio, ex quo 
habere potuerunt brevia\ Paternos- 
ters by lay-brothers instead. Fasting 
from All Saints to Christmas (besides 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND, 



9 



Lent from Epiphany) ; another till the 
Resurrection ; at other times on Fri- 
days. In times of manifest necessity 
not bound to corporal fasting. Not 
to ride but from manifest necessity. 
On journeys to eat whatever was set 
before them. Not to take money. To 
receive necessaries, not money, as re- 
wards of their labours. To have no 
property. To beg lustily (confidenter) . 
For penitence to go to the provincial 
Priors only. If these were not priests, 
to get priests to enjoin this penance for 
them. General elected by the provin- 
cials and wardens in the chapter of 
Pentecost held every third year, or a 
shorter or longer term, as the General 
thought fit. Provincials always to 
come there. General removable for 
insufficiency. Not to preach in any 
bishoprick without the Prelate* s leave, 
or unless examined and approved by 
the General. Short sermons, because 
our Lord's was such. Ministers to 
visit and advise obedience. Brothers 
unable to observe the rule to recur to 
the ministers. If unlearned not to 
learn. Not to enter houses of nuns, 
or be godfathers of children. Mission- 
aries, with license of the Provincial, to 
have a Cardinal for their protector. 
Stellartius, &c. — There being great dis- 
putes in this order about property, 
and vast varieties or modifications of 
the rule (at large in Bullarium Roma- 
num), but since impossible to be men- 
tioned here, and given in essentials by 
Dr. Mosheim, it is sufficient to note, 
that the more austere Franciscans were 
called Observants. 

5. Franciscan Nuns, Minor esses, or 
Nuns of St. Clare. 

Novices examined at their reception 
as to their Catholic faith. A year's 
probation. Divine service read not 
sung. Pater-nosters for the ignorant, 
and those who were unable to attend 
the hours. Fast all the year. Christ- 
mas, every Friday refection twice. Dis- 
pensation of fasting in favour of the 
young and weak. Confession twelve 
times in the year, Communion seven ; 
for which purpose Chaplains were then 



allowed to celebrate. No one to be 
elected Abbess unless professed. To 
observe the order of the society (com- 
munitatem servare) in all things; espe- 
cially in the church, dorter, fratry, in- 
firmary, and clothing; in a similar 
manner her Vicaress or deputy. Chap- 
ter and confession (private) at least 
once a week. No deposits. From Com- 
plin to Tierce silence (service excepted 
out of the house), always in the church 
and dormitory, and while they ate in 
the refectory ; infirmary excepted, 
where they might speak in a low voice, 
and briefly insinuate what they should 
find necessary. Not to talk in the 
parlour or at the grate without leave, 
and at the former in the presence of 
two sisters, at the latter of three. At 
the grate, a cloth to be put on the in- 
side, not to be removed but at divine 
service, or when any thing was said to 
any body. A gate with two locks, 
always to remain fast (in the night es- 
pecially) except in time of divine ser- 
vice. No one to speak at the gate be- 
fore sun-rise or after sun-set. At the 
Locutory, the cloth, which might not 
be removed, always to remain within. 
In St. Martinis Lent and greater Lent 
no one to speak at the locutory but at 
confession or in urgent necessity. 
Work after Tierce, which was assigned 
in the chapter. Same public disposi- 
tion with regard to alms sent for the 
sisters. No letters or receipt or gift 
of any thing out of the house allowed 
without leave of the Abbess. If any 
thing were sent by parents or others, 
the Abbess might have it given to her, 
and take it to herself if she wanted it, 
if not, she might give it to one who did. 
Abbess and obedientiaries to dispose of 
money for things wanted. Abbess to 
see into the infirmary. Penitences; 
bread and water in the refectory for 
the contumacious after admonition 
twice or thrice. Chaplain and two 
lay-brothers for the relief of their po- 
verty. Chaplain not to enter the 
house without a companion ; upon en- 
trance to be in a public place where 
he might be seen by others ; might en- 
ter for confession of the sick, extreme 



80 



RULES OF THE ORDERS 



unction, absolution, &c. ; grave-diggers 
also allowed. — From the rule in Bulla- 
rium Romanum, vol. I. pp. 123, 124. 

In a mitigation of this rule it was 
enacted as follows. Lay-sisters allow- 
ed to go out on the convent business. 
All and the Abbess to lie in the com- 
mon dormitory, and separate beds, 
the Abbess's so placed that she could 
see them all around her. Allowed to 
talk from Nones to Vespers on festivals 
and certain other times. From Easter 
to Christmas sleep till Nones unless 
any one preferred prayer, contempla- 
tion, or quiet labour. Id. 152, seq. 
[The remaining parts of this rule will 
appear in the sections Infirmary, Por- 
ter, Dormitory, and Cloister.] 

6. Brigettine Nuns. 

No property whatever. Beds of 
straw ; two woollen coverings or blan- 
kets, bolster and pillow covered with 
linen. Veil to represent the form of 
the cross. Speech after Mass of Vir- 
gin Mary until the table was conse- 
crated (quod mensa consecratur) ; after 
the grace, reading in the church till 
vespers began ; then silence till after 
supper they had given thanks in the 
church ; speech again till collation ; 
after that, silence till the Mass of the 
Virgin Mary on the day following. No 
secular person, male or female, to en- 
ter the house. Speech, sitting at the 
window, from Nones to Vespers. Fast 
on the proper food from Advent to 
Christmas. Friday before Lent till 
Easter on common food. Holy-rood- 
day till Michaelmas fish and white 
meats (lacticinia). All Saints to Ad- 
vent same. On certain days only 
bread and water. On all other days of 
the year, flesh on Sunday, Monday, 
Tuesday, Thursday, and in the even- 
ing fish and white meats. Wednesdays, 
the whole year, at dinner and supper, 
fish and white meats. Fridays, the 
whole year, common fast-food. Sabbath 
fish and milk food. All other fasts 
according to the rule of the Church. 
Persons requesting admission to be 
sent away successively, first, for three 



months, then to return, and be asked, 
whether she continued in the same 
mind ; the like after a longer lapse ; 
then the rule to be proposed, its aspe- 
rities, contempt of the world, forgetful- 
ness of parents. After a year, profes- 
sion and admission ; when the Bishop 
at the gate of the Church put several 
questions to her; whether she was free 
from matrimony, from any tie of the 
Church or excommunication, &c. and 
whether she desired entrance there in 
the name of Jesus Christ and the Vir- 
gin Mary. Upon her affirmative reply, 
the Bishop introduced her, when the 
two candles were lighted, which were 
carried before the standard that pre- 
ceded the Nun, and burned during the 
Mass. The Bishop consecrated the 
ring and put it on her finger, and con- 
crated the Nun, after which Mass was 
performed. The Bishop went to the Al- 
tar, and began the Mass of the Trinity, 
while the Nun stood at the Altar; who, 
when the offertory began, went there, 
and afterwards returned to her place. 
Then she was called to the Altar by a 
priest, when they were barefooted, and 
put off her outward garment in order 
to put on her consecrated ones. Then 
the tunic, hood, veil, &c. in which 
the Bishop fixed a pin, were severally 
put on and consecrated. She returned 
to her place. The Bishop began Mass, 
and, when he came to that part in 
which the priest at the wedding cere- 
mony was used to bless the husband 
and wife, put the crown on her, fixed 
the pin on it, said a prayer, and she 
returned to her place till the Mass was 
over. Then she came to the Altar, 
prostrated herself upon her face, and a 
Litany and absolution followed ; after 
which she took the Sacrament, and 
four sisters brought in the coffin 
(which at the beginning of the Mass 
stood in the gate through which the 
nun was introduced, and had earth 
sprinkled on it) into the house. Then 
the Bishop went to the gate, and com- 
mended her to the Abbess, who made 
a suitable reply. The nun was then 
led to the Chapter, for the first eight 



WHICH OBTAINED IN ENGLAND. 



81 



days was exempted from discipline, 
and stood in the bottom of the Choir. 
At the expiration of this term she be- 
gan the observance of the order, and 
sat last at the Choir and table. There 
were thirteen Priests, who had a hall 
(aula) in which they resided, from 
which there was an entrance into the 
Church, the lower Choir belonging to 
them, and the upper (roof) to the Nuns ; 
four Gospellers, who were to be priests 
if they chose ; eight servants ; all of 
whom (with the nuns) made the thir- 
teen apostles and seventy-two disciples 
(See Fuller's Sarcastic Remarks). 
There never could be more than twenty- 
five brothers, who had a form of bene- 
diction similar to the Nuns, except that, 
instead of the ring, they laid hold of 
the Priest's hands, and used a similar 
ceremony instead of the veil. Their 
hair was cut in a circle as in other 
monasteries. The Abbess was elected 
by the Convent, and the Confessor out 
of the thirteen Priests, who were obe- 
dient to the Abbess, and the sisters and 
Lay-brothers to him. The thirteen 
priests alone managed divine service, 
did no secular service, fasted on bread 
and water on the evening before the 
greater festivals, and all other days ce- 
lebrated the vigil by preaching. Con- 
fession three times a year at least by 
the Nuns, though one of the thirteen 
Priests was every day ready to hear it. 
On evenings preceding the greater 
feasts fasting on bread and water. 
Communion on Maunday Thursday; 
at Easter, the Ascension, Whitsun- 
tide, Christmas, and every Sabbath, 
with advice of the Confessor. Chapter 
every Thursday. A sick sister who 
had property was absolved, and did 
penance when convalescent. One in 
health, who did not confess it, and was 
convicted before three witnesses, on 
the first day of the Chapter had the 
usual allowance, but on the next Fri- 
day had bread and water, at the time 
of divine service staid in the Church- 
yard, did not speak a word to any one, 
and prostrated herself at the feet of 
each passing Nun. When the evening 
of Friday was over, and the Convent 



went out in due order, the Abbess raised 
her, brought her to the Altar, the con- 
vent interceded for her, and she was 
absolved. If, however, any one died 
with property, her body was placed 
on the bier, brought to the Church- 
door, the Abbess pronounced a denun- 
ciation of the crime, Ave Maria was 
said, and the body brought into the 
Choir, after Mass carried again to the 
Church-door, and buried by the bro- 
ther. Neither presents nor property 
allowed the Nuns or Abbess. No 
Monastery to be inhabited till fully 
built, and they could peaceably and 
quietly live there. No fewer sisters 
or Priests to be received than were 
necessary for divine service, and the 
number to be afterwards completed. 
Those who entered the house after the 
first foundation to bring with them suf- 
ficient for their maintenance in good 
and bad times; and when the number 
was full, and they had revenues enough 
to furnish allowances of meat and 
drink annually, no more necessary to 
be brought in. Vestments of the dead 
and her daily provision given the poor 
till another was chosen in her room. 
All surplus money or food given to 
the poor, and on this account no visi- 
tors allowed. Deductions were, how- 
ever, made from this, in case of appa- 
rent necessity* for the ensuing year; 
but as far only as seemed sufficient. 
Old cloaths given to the poor. Abbess 
not to build unnecessary or splendid 
buildings. Presents at admission not 
to be of permanent revenues ; but that 
they might not come with empty hands 
before God, it was fit to offer something. 
Extreme poor received gratis. Such 
presents not to be converted to private 
use, but given to " poor Churches " 
(egenis et pauberibus ecclesiis) ; ex- 
ception in case of necessity. Inquiry 
to be made whether these gifts were 
honestly obtained ; if not, rejected, 
provided the Convent had no need of 
them. Nuns not to be admitted till 
eighteen years old, nor to enter the 
house before the year of probation. 
Priests and brothers to profess at 
twenty-five years of age. Manual la- 

G 



82 



RULES OF THE ORDERS, 



bour at times not devoted to divine 
service, and the fruits of such labour 
given to the poor. Disciplines re- 
jected and reprobated. Same portion 
of meat and drink. Confessors (and 
Lay-brothers) not to enter the house 
unless in company with others to give 
the Sacrament to a dying Nun. If she 
happened to die all the Priests and 
Lay-brothers with the Confessor enter- 
ed, and carried her to sepulture with 
chanting and prayers and the usual 
rites. The Bishop was to be the visi- 
tor ; the Prince protector and advocate ; 
Pope a faithful guardian (fidelis tutor) 
over both Bishop and Prince. In the 
house was a grave constantly open, 
which the Abbess and Convent visited 
daily, and performed a divine service 
at. A coffin (whether the same thing 
as alluded to in the preceding sentence, 
or not, appears to me rather dubious, 
I think not) to be placed at the en- 
trance of the Church, that the persons 
entering might see and remember 
death. Hospinian, 506-514. There 
is too a large folio volume in B.L. with 
wood-cuts of the "Revelation of S. 
Bridget." 

7. Augustinian Eremites. 

Of this order I could find nothing. 
In MS. Bodl. Digby, 113 (Disquisitio 
Fratrum Eremitarum), it is said, "il- 
lam non puto fuisse regulam quee com- 



muniter apud particulars religiones 
legitur et tenetur ; sed alia cujus pars 
recitatur in canon e n. q. p'ti non dicta- 
tis. 5 ' [I do not think that to be the 
rule which is commonly read and held 
in particular religions, but another, 
part of which is recited in the canon n. 
q. &c] Notwithstanding this, it is 
plain that Alexander the Fourth, who 
concentrated the hermits into this or- 
der, gave them the rule of Austin, 
without any such distinction, as all 
writers agree. 

8. Nuns of Fontevraud. 

Of this rule too I could obtain no 
information. All I know of them is, 
that they followed the Benedictine 
rule amplified : that the several Monas- 
teries of Monks and Nuns within the 
same inclosure were subject to an Ab- 
bess ; and that, according to Malms- 
bury (s. 96, p. 2.), they never spoke 
but in Chapter. 

9. Bon Hommes {Augustinians) . 

Their peculiarities, according to the 
Monast. II. 357, are to be found in 
MSS. C. C. C. Cant. Miscell. G. 

10. Brothers of the Sack. 

These were Tertiaries of St. Francis. 
See Bullar. Rom. I. and Maclaine^s 
Mosheim, in C. xiii. p. 2. C. ii. § 40, 
n. 9. 



MONASTIC OFFICERS.'— ABBOT, ABBESS, 



83 



CHAPTER VIL 



MONASTIC OFFICERS.— ABBOT, ABBESS. 



Abbot is a Syriac term, signifying 
Father, and was anciently applied to 
all Monks, especially those who were 
venerable for years and sanctity. a If 
authenticity be conceded to the rule of 
Basil, it should seem to have been 
first used in the scriptural form of Ab- 
ba, 13 a mode of compellation, by which 
a son expresses his confidence and de- 
pendence on his father's kindness, or 
conveys a petition. Domnus, or pater, 
was the more recent mode of address. d 
Among the Egyptian Monks the Abbot 
was called David; whence, perhaps, 
the name of the Welch Saint. e 

Abbots and Priors, as heads of 
houses, are usually considered, except 
in Cathedrals, where there were no Ab- 
bots, on account of the Bishop, syno- 
nymous terms. But there is an express 
injunction of a founder, that the Supe- 
rior shall only be stiled Prior ; f and in 
another place it seems that, if the 
king granted his charter of liberties 
and protections, the superior was to 
have the style of Abbot.g This appears 
from the speech of Geffrey-Fitz-Peter 
to the Abbot of Walden, " Oh, my Lord 
Abbot, you and your Monks have disin- 
herited me and my heirs, by turning my 
Priory into an Abbey, and throwing me 
off, by subjecting yourselves wholly to 
the royal power :" h The king's right in 
Abbeys was considered to extend to 
the advowson and presentation ;* and 
as Thomas Lord Berkeley, in the four- 
teenth century, bought the advowson 

a Du Cange Gl. As also to Seculars, who had 
care of souls. Lyndw. p. 32, whence the modern 
abbe, abbate. 

b Reg. C. 33, 38, &c. 

c Hammond on Luke, c. 8. v. 15. N. a p. 47. b. 

d Reg. Bened. c. 63. The term was at first pro- 
per only to Popes. Du Cange. 

e Du Cange, v. David. f Monast. Angl. 

ii. 301. s Id. 328. h Dugd. Monast. i. 

455. i Eadm.24. 



of the Abbey of Kingswood, of Richard 
Chedder, it shows the loss by such 
practices. k Upon the same principle, 
we find only Prioresses appointed in 
Nunneries, that obedience might not 
be withdrawn from the parent house 
or founder.l Perhaps in allusion to 
this King John confirmed to William 
Marshall, earl of Pembroke, and his 
heirs, the gift of a. pastoral staff to the 
Abbey of Nutley, to have and hold for 
ever, with all matters, liberties, and 
free customs appertaining to the dona- 
tion of such pastoral staff. m The Au- 
gustinian Order, says Reyner by mis- 
take, had no Abbots till the sera of 
Eugene the Fourth (cent. 15th.), and 
then with very small authority. 11 

There were anciently Lay-abbots, 
which, it seems, was owing to the laity 
seizing the church lands, and leaving 
only the altars and tithes to the clergy .p 
Lay-abbots were also called AJbba- 
comites, and Abbates-milites, noble Ab- 
bots, and knightly Abbots.^ They 
were great persons, under whose pro- 
tection the Monasteries voluntarily 
placed themselves; but these protec- 
tors became their oppressors. 17 They 
had another title, that of commendatory 
Abbots, and often filled the first offices 
in the court and army. s 

During the vacancies of Abbeys, un- 
less the right was purchased t or relin- 

k Smythe's Berkeley's MSS. 424. ( » Angl. 
Sacr. ii. 290. m Monast. Angl. ii. 156. 

n Reyner, 101. See an instance, temp. H. II. 
Monast. ii. 933. 

Spelm. Gl. v. Abbas and Comorban. Chron. 
Saxonic. p. 67, Concil. Clovesho, § 5. 

p Gir. Cambr. in Ware's Ireland, p. 42,1. 17. 
Bede's complaint above might be an additional 
motive. 

i Du Cange. r Notices, vii. 13. s Mail- 

lot, iii. 52. 

1 W. Thorne, c. 34, § i. Knight, a . 1363. M. 
Par. p. 745. 

G2 



84 



MONASTIC OFFICERS 



quished, a they escheated to the pa- 
trons, or, in case of their minority, 
their guardians, which patrons, at this 
period, according to their respective 
claims, placed a man and horse at the 
gate, d presented the Superior/ or re- 
served only the grant of the conge 
d'elire, and confirmation, fealty, and 
homage of the elect/ The king's 
clerks in custody committed great de- 
predation for themselves and their 
master.^ In Nunneries subservient to 
monks, the Prioress was elected by the 
Abbot, and he appointed a guardian in 
vacancies. 11 In houses possessing the 
right of election, that right, where the 
number of Monks or Canons was not 
sufficient, was resigned to the Bishop. 1 
Reading abbey, when vacant, was to 
be in the disposition of the Prior and 
Chapter, because the Abbot had no 
separate revenues, k an arrangement 
sometimes made on account of the 
debts they often contracted. 1 

Vacancies were thought to leave the 
Monks room for secular indulgences, 
and occasion them to die without con- 
fession." 1 

The inquiries of the Roman court, 
respecting the qualifications of the 
person elected, were directed to his age, 
profession (monastic), free or servile 
condition, legitimacy, 11 competency of 
literature, sobriety, gravity, prudence 
in spirituals and temporals, zeal for 
the order, and fair character, and whe- 
ther before his entrance he was a cour- 
tier; but it seems, that science and 



a Monast. ii. 1045, 1047. 

b Since the reign of Rufus ; before they were in 
the Bishop's hands. 

c Monast. ii. 326. d Id. 243. 

e Lyttelton's H. II. iii. 247.— Stat. Provis. 25 
Ed. III. 

f Monast. ii. 236. « M. Paris, 751. h Mo- 
nast. i. 489. 

' See the formula, "Rev. in Christo patri hu- 
rniles et devoti filii et legitimi oratores Williem. 
Whaddon et Joh. Lambe canonici regularis prio- 
ratus de A. Ord. S. Aug." &c. in MS. Harl. 670, 
fol. 76. 

k Monast. i. 418, 471. ' Sol infer from 

Reyn. Append. 165. m Eadmer, 24. n From 
the Canons. 

° X Script. 2185. (Curialis.) 

" Sed et alii plures de Anglis cau$idici per id 



noble birth were frequent considera- 
tions,? and simony more than any.H 
The Celts considered beauty and dig- 
nity of person, as characteristick of 
nobility and family. 1 " Indeed person 
was enormously regarded by our an- 
cestors ; s and deformity deemed a pro- 
vidential denotation of crime, as in 
the question of the Jews concerning 
the blind man, put to Christ. A poor 
Abbot afflicted with a hernia, and having 
a mutilated finger, is thus stigma- 
tized ;* and person was deemed an 
important consideration in electing an 
Abbot. u 

The form of election, to which I 
have found most analogies, is this. 
Licence from the patron to elect was 
read v — Hymn of the Holy Ghost sung 
— all in the Chapter who had no right 
in the election ordered to depart — 
Patron's letter of licence read — votes 
taken separately by three Scrutators x — 
election proclaimed by the Chantor — 
all approved, except the elect, who 



tempus in abbatia ista habebantur, quorum colla- 
tioni nemo sapiens refragabatur. Siquidem regis 
officiales illis diebus hominibus in ecclesise posses- 
sionibus diversis locorum manentibus multas infe- 
rebant injurias. Cui abbati Aldelmo (he died a° 
1084) plurimum auxilii ferebant, duo ecclesiae hu- 
jus monachi, germani quidem fratres, quorum major 
natu Sacolus, junior vero Bodicius vocabatur.'' 
Registr. de Abendone, MS. Cott. Claud, c. ix. 

" But also many other English curiales at that 
time resided in the house, to whose maintenance 
no prudent man objected. For the royal officers 
in those days did many injuries to the residents in 
the different possessions of the Church ; and to this 
Abbot Aldelm much assistance was rendered by two 
brothers, Monks of the house, the eldest named 
Sacolus, the younger Bodicius." I thought fit to 
note the above, because curialis has various appli- 
cations. See Du Cange in voce. 

p Monast. ii. 700. 

i Vivebas Simeon, sed tu non tempore vivis, 
Subtractus morti vivere semper habes. 
Simeon you lived ; but still all time survive, 
Snatch'd from death's claws eternally alive. 

MS. Cott. Vitell. a. xii. fol. 129 a . de Simone Ab- 
bate. 

r Macpherson on Ossian, § Sulmalla of Lumon. 

s M. Paris, 312, 414, 494. Scriptor. p. Bed. 
192, &c. Rous. 196 et alii. 

* Du Cange, v. Ruptvra. 

u Angl. Sacr. i. 755, ii. 195. 

v For the election of Priors a verbal consent was 
sufficient. Reyn. 125. 

x If each Monk voted singly, the Pope declared 
the election not universal or inspired by the Holy 
Ghost. Angl. Sacr. i. 735. 



ABBOT, ABBESS, 



85 



remained silent — the Monks lifted up 
the elect, and, singing Te Deum, car- 
ried him to the High Altar. Here 
having reclined him, they said the usual 
prayer over him — the election was pub- 
lished in English to the Clergy and 
Laity then in the Monastery — and an- 
nounced, and accepted in form, by the 
elect, next day.a At St. Alban's there 
were twelve electors deputed, no one 
of whom could be chosen. b 

In Cathedral Priories (at least some) 
the Bishop appointed one out of a 
number nominated, and at Rochester 
was besides the Scrutator. At Ely, 
the Prior, after election, was examined 
by Doctors in Divinity. d 

In these elections interest was often 
used/ and sometimes in a very bois- 
terous form. It is recorded of Cocker- 
sand, that " for as moche as the said 
howse was many tymes troublyd at 
the tyme of their allecion of theyr Abbot 
with the jentylmen of the countre, 
theyre neghbours, they mad sewt to 
the kyng, for his mantenance to have 
free aleccion amongst theymselff, and 
bound their sayd howsse for that 
preveley to gyve at every aleccion 
xxs. to the kyng, and his heyres 
kyngs." f The Abbots so elected were, 
however, deposeable for various causes, 
by the ceremony of breaking their 
seals/ as was done at their natural de- 
mise, by a hammer upon one of the 
steps before the Altar, h and depriving 
them of the stole and ring. Some- 
times they retired upon pensions, or 
became monks daraigne, quitted their 
profession and married.i 

a Barrett's Bristol, i. 259, 601. »> M. Paris, 

1047. c Angl. Sacra, i. 372, 550. d Id. 

673. e Monast. i. 275, &c. 

f MS. Coll. of Arms, D. 4, North coronat. 
Convents were very liable to injury from their 
neighbours: "Mylorde attendant dwellyng nigh 
the said (Abbey of Harwolde) , iutyssede the yonge 
Nunnes to breke up the coffer wheras the Con- 
vent seale was, and John Mordaunt then present 
ther, persuading them to the same, causid ther the 
Priorisse and hir folisshe yonge folke to seale a 
wry ting made in Lattyn, nether the Priores nor hir 
sisters can telle," &c. MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. p. 
131. 

s Willis's Abbies in Westm. M. Par. 406. 

h Id. 1064. Du Cange, v. Stola. This was not 
always done as to the Seal. X Script. 1872. 

1 W. Thome, c. 23, § 11. Pennant's White- 
ford, &c. 34, 269, 



Of these Abbots, so elected, some 
were exempt from the Bishop, others 
not; a privilege which, says a most 
elegant and plausible writer; originated 
in the excessive power assumed by the 
Bishops, whose grants of exemptions 
from temporals had opened the door 
to this privilege, 1 * " and who, by the 
meanness of their stile l in these grants, 
seem to have acted under that fear 
of emperors and princes, to whom, says 
Mosheim, the Monks fled for refuge 
from the odious task of collecting con- 
tributions, which the Bishops, to sup- 
port themselves in their luxuries, had 
imposed upon them." m These exempt 
Abbots, after the decree made to that 
effect by Innocent the Third, in the 
synod of Lateran, were confirmed by 
the Pope, n and for their journey to 
Rome, the fees of which court were 
most enormous, the convent agreed 
to pay their expenses.P The penalty of 
£10,000 was levied upon a Bishop, 
for invading the privileges of exempt 
houses •/ and it seems they occasioned 
u disobedience, hatred, the inflation of 
haughtiness, and venom of pride/' r 
By wits they were derided, for, says 
Nigell Wireker, " Mulus et Abbates 
sunt in honore pares." (" Abbots and 
mules are in honour alike/' s ) Those 
who were not exempt, made protesta- 
tions of canonical obedience to the 
Bishop. 1 

Upon every new election of an Ab- 
bot (of Gloucester) the Abbey was 
obliged to maintain one of the king's 
clerks, whom he thought fit to name, 
and accordingly a corrody for life was 
granted to him. In the reigns of 
kings Hen. VII. and VIII. the value 
of those corrodies or grants was £5 a 
year. u 

k Jenkins's Fra. Paolo on Eccles. Benef. 34, 35. 

1 Marculri Formulae, p. 4. m Eccles. Hist, 

v. i. p. 321, ed. 4to. u M. Paris, 1063. 

° Hutchinson's Durham, ii. 89. p Monast. 

i. 299. * Id. 291. 

r " Tumorem elevationis et superbiee venenum.'' 
Petr. Bkes. MS. Roy. Libr. 8. F. xvii. 

s Spec. Stultor.MS. Hart. 2422, &c. fccandin 
print. 

1 Registr. Hereford in Rudder's Gloucester- 
shire, p. 449. — Junius has a satirical passage 
about exemptions in MS. Bodl. James, No. 6, pp. 
120,1. 

■ Archd, Furney in Rudder's Glouc. p. 147. 



86 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



The newly-elected Abbot received a 
large sum from the monastic tenants, 
under the name of providing him a pal- 
frey^ for, upon doing homage to the 
king; the MarshalPs fee from Abbots 
or Priors holding a whole barony, was 
a palfrey, or the price of it ; b in ade- 
quate proportion, from those who held 
only a part of a barony, and from those 
who held in free alms nothing ; a rea- 
sonable fee was due to the Chamber- 
lain also, from Abbots or Priors, hold- 
ing an intire barony ; from those that 
hold neither the whole, nor part of one, 
their upper garment or its price. c On 
doing homage to the Patron, Abbots 
omitted the form of Lay men, d The 
installation feast was very sumptuous, 
as is well known ; but, to spare expense, 
he sometimes dined with the Convent 
alone. e 

Between the election and benedic- 
tion, the Abbot (at St. Alban's) used 
the Prior's chamber, instead of the ab- 
batial great lodgings. No one upon his 
rising from the celebration of the elec- 
tion in the Church, as had been some- 
times the case, was to solicit the mo- 
nastic habit from him or necessaries of 
life, as a test of his future liberality. He 
chose his companions or Chaplains, 
appointed the messengers whom he 
wished to send to Rome, and invited 
those whom he liked to dine with him, 
who, however, had the Prior's pre- 
vious lea ye: nor without this leave 
could any one but the principal Cel- 
larer, Chamberlain, Infirmarer, and Sa- 
crist, go out on horseback. The Elect 
dined alone in the Refectory on Was- 
tel bread; but the Prior sat at the 
high datsf and took the first place, 
except in processions, where he went 
last, on the Abbot's side/ like another 
senior. 11 



* X Script. 1921, 1939, &c. 

b 5 marks the horse, § a mark the harness. Ed- 
mondson's Heraldry, i. 69, ubi pi. 

c Stat. 13 E. I. c. 42. 

u Only saying I " do homage to you," instead of 
11 I become your man." Spelm. Archeeol. 357. 

e X Script. 2152. 

f The desk or canopy over the high table. War- 
ton's Hist. Engl. Poetry, i. 40, 422. 

b The Abbot's place in processions was " di- 
rectly after the Content, and in the middle." Mo- 
nast. ii. 935. h M. Paris, p, 1069. 



The affairs of the Abbey were un- 
settled till the Abbot was confirmed. 1 

The form of the benediction which 
fixed him in his authority was this : 
Mass was begun, and before the Gos- 
pel the Elect entered, and was interro- 
gated by the Bishop, whether he would 
" he well " k with them, refrain his 
manners from evil, keep the Rule, pre- 
serve divine affairs, instruct the others, 
maintain chastity and sobriety, and 
obey the Bishop and his successors. 
Then the schedule of profession was 
read, after which carpets were laid 
before the Altar, the Bishop and Elect 
lay prostrate, and litanies and prayers 
were chanted. After the Litany the 
Bishop rose, and pronounced the bene- 
diction ; at the end of which the Ab- 
bot rose, and the Bishop gave him the 
Rule, with a suitable exhortation ; then 
the pastoral staff, and if he was to 
be ordained priest the sacerdotal belt. 1 
A hymn followed, and after the Gos- 
pel, he offered to the Bishop two 
loaves, and two lighted tapers, and 
communicated. 111 Instances appear, 
where this ceremony was invalid, be- 
fore the Abbot had sworn that nothing 
prejudicial to the Royal interest was 
contained in the bull of benediction, 11 
and others, where no money was to be 
extorted for it.° 

The Sacrist, however, of the Church 
where the Abbot was confirmed, had 
a present usually of the copes or of 
vestments, or of materials to make 
them.P This was contrary to papal 
edicts .<! Fees too were paid. r 

Eddius says, that Wilfrid was bles- 
sed Abbot, and ordained Priest after 
that period ; s but Eadmer makes the 
ordination indispensable before Bene- 
diction, and adds, that the latter cere- 
mony alone gave the Abbot full power 
over the conventual affairs ; notwith- 
standing this, even prior to the Synod 



* Eadm. 93. k Bene esse. J See an in- 

stance, Monast. i. 288. m Rituale Antiquum. 

MS. Harl. 2866. n X Script. 2152. ° Mo- 

nast. ii. 937. 

p Archd. Furney, & Angl. Sacr. in Rudder's 
Glouc. 143. 

i X Script. 253, 327. r At least sometimes. 
X Script, 1798, 2152. s Vit. Wilfr. c. 8. 

P. 92, 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



87 



of Lateral^ when exempt Abbots were 
to be confirmed by the Pope, such 
confirmation gave the Abbot full power, 
and rendered the benediction a mere 
conclusory ceremony. a 

The next ceremony was his formal 
admission. He was to put off his 
shoes before the doors of the Church, 
and, with devotion and giving of 
thanks, proceed to meet the convent, b 
who were to advance in a procession 
previously arranged by the Chantor. 
After his entrance, he was to pray 
upon a robe put upon a carpet laid 
upon the upper step of the Choir. c 
The Bishop, or his deputy,* 1 then in- 
troduced him into the Choir, e and he 
was placed in his stall. The Monks, 
according to seniority, even those of 
another house, kneeling, gave him the 
kiss of peace upon the hand, and 
afterwards rising, upon the mouth/ 
All this time the Abbot held his staff, 
which he did not either in his admis- 
sion or introduction. He then entered 



R X Scriptor. p. 1813. 

b Abbas calceamenta amovebit ; pro foribus eccle- 
siae calceamentis amotis cum devocione et gratia- 
rum actione convent ui obviam debet procedere. 
MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 183. (Consuetud. de 
Abendone.) 

c Quo introducto ad summum gradum chori in- 
cumbet orationi, pallio, ut prius tapeto, supposito. 

d Thus a commission. "Thomas permissione 
divina Wygorniensis Ep's dilecto nobis magistro 
Jacobo de Cobeham, doctori decretorum canonico- 
que Wellensis Ecclesise, omnem gratiam et bene- 
dictionem. Ad admittendum nominationem sep- 
tem monachorum nostri capituli Wygorniensis 
prions solacio destituti nobis juxta formam compo- 
sitionis super hoc editse tempore bonse memorise 
Will'i le Bloys predecessoris nostri presentandi ex- 
aininandique eosdem monachos, et ad approbandum 
uuum ex illis septem, necnon perficiendum eunclem 
debite inprioreni; vobis vices nostras committimus, 
cum ad id vacare non possimus, aliis arduis et inevi- 
tabilibus negotiis impediti. Dat' London, xi. kal. 
Decembris anno D'ni mill'o c.c.c. mo xlvii. conse- 
crationis nostra? anno primo." (MS. Bodl. 2508. 
p. 65.) As the substance is expressed above, a 
translation is unnecessary. 

e The Decreta Lanfranci, sect, de abbate, con- 
form to the MS. 

f Postmodum omnes ex ordine post priores, etiam 
monachi extranei, osculum pacis et amoris porri- 
gent abbati primo manui genibus flexis reliquis per 
ordinem subsequentibus, deinde se erigendo oscu- 
lum porrigent ori. Abbasque quousque omnes ei 
osculum perrexerint baculum in manu sua tenebit. 
Sed in admissione abbatis nee introductione abbas 
baculum portabit, MS, Cott. ut supra. 



the Choir with that ensign of dignity, 
put on Ids shoes in the vestiary, and 
the vestments being laid by in the 
Choir, a Chapter was held, and the 
Bishop preached an appropriate ser- 
mon. The Abbot retired to his cham- 
ber, and the Convent to the Cloister. 
At the feast of his admission the 
Convent had every man a gallon of 
wine, a whole loaf, and three handsome 
dishes of fish.s The day after, the Obe- 
dientiaries laid the keys of their offices 
at his feet. h 

The Abbot, say the Consuetudines, 
shall sleep at night in his chamber, 
with the Chaplains whom he shall 
chuse out of the Convent. The Abbot's 
bed shall not be transferred from his 
chamber on account of any one under 
Royal or Metropolitan rank. One of 
his Chaplains ought always to be with 
him.i The Abbot shall celebrate Mass 
on festival days, and dine in the Re- 
fectory . k The Prior of the weekly 
Mass, if a worthier person be not pre- 
sent, shall introduce him to the great 
Altar. If the Prior be absent, his own 
Chaplain. It is in the disposition of 
the Abbot to celebrate Mass in the 
profession of Monks ; and if so, he 
shall give the benediction. 1 On Sun- 
days, as often as he is disengaged, he 
ought to be in the procession, and 
begin the antiphonar in the entrance of 
the Church ; if he is indisposed, the 
Chantor. In the processions he shall 



s i galonem viniunicuique : placentam integram i 
tria fercula piscium honorabilia. MS. Cott. ut 
supra. 

h " In his first Chapter." Dec. Lanfr. 

' Abbas in camera sua, noctibus recumbet cum 
capellanis suis quos de conventu eliget. [See Athon, 
p. 150, who says, that, notwithstanding his sepa- 
rate apartment, he was never alone, having his ba- 
julus, i. e. domestick monk (Mabillon Annales 
Benedictini, iii. 244,) always with him at least.] 
Nullius auctoritate et reverentia, cubiculum Abba- 
tis transferetur de camera sua. nisi prae persona re- 
gia, vel metropolitana, — ex consuetudine unus capel- 
lanorum debet semper cum abbate esse. Id. f. 
184, a. 

k The Prior and sub-prior were often put in his 
room on the table of the Higb Mass. Cap. Gen. 
Northampt. anno 1444, Stat. 9. 

1 In Abbatis est dispositione in professione Mo- 
nachorum missam celebrare — benedictionem faciefc 
super monachos professuros. f. 185, b. 



88 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



enter the Choir with the Convent. a 
The Abbot, after the triple prayer, 
made in the mornings shall visit the 
sick ; and when he comes to celebrate 
from afar ; in like manner after pray- 
ers for excesses in the way he shall 
visit the sick upon his return from the 
Church. c Three days before Easter, 
and other festivals, he was to head 
the procession to the Chapter , d If he 
made an error in the pronunciation of 
a chant, he was to ask pardon. He 
could reprove and accuse a Monk, 
which was not allowed to the Prior, or 
any other. In every accusation the 
Abbot could remit the sentence except 
in the transgression of silence, and then 
he could modify it. e [It was his duty 
to attend the Cloister in the morning to 
hear what the Monks had to say. f ] 
While the boys conversed with the 
Abbot or Prior in confession, no one 
could call any of the confessed to 
confession. If any Monk, after the 
Chapter, spoke with the Abbot in 
confession, the Chapter of the boys e 
was dispensed with that day. h All 
were to incline to the Abbot as he 
passed by. In every conference, when 
the Abbot was present, the Prior 
alone was to sit by his side, and no 



a Abbas diebus dominicis quotiens expeditus fue- 
rit ad processionem debet esse, et in introitu eccle- 
sise antiphonam incipere. Si aliquo incommodo 
corporis prseoccupatus fuerit, cantor debet incipere, 
in processionibus cum conventu Cborum intrabit. 
f. 186. a. 

b See Concordia Regularum. 

c Abbas post tres orationes mane factas infirmos 
visitabit ; et cum de longinquo canere veniet ; in- 
emptidem per orationes pro excessibus in via. sub- 
ripientibus, fratres infirmos visitabit cum de eccle- 
sia redierit. Ibid. 

d Anticipare processionem conventus ad capitu- 
lum. 

e Abbati licitum est monachum reprehendere 
eundemque clamare, quod nee priori nee ahi beet. 
In quolibet clamore Abbas sententiam potuit re- 
laxare, nisi in silentii transgression e ; hoc etiam 
erit in sua. dispositione. 

1 Eadm. 8. 

8 Held after tbat of the Monks. See Cone. Re- 
gul. and Dec. Lanfr. supra. 

h Dum pueri cum Abbate vel cum Priore lo- 
quuntur in confessione, nulli licet aliquem confesso- 
rum ad confessionem vocare (i. e. a second time). 
Si quis monachorum post capitulum cum Abbate 
loquitur in confessione, magister puerorum non 
teDebit capitulum illo die. 



other without his order. 1 Adults and 
aged persons were to sit opposite upon 
the form of the Cloister ; the younger 
at his feet. k When he entered the 
Chapter, all descending one step were 
to rise and bow to him, and stand on 
the same step till he sat down. 1 When 
he was in the Cloister, neither Prior 
nor other, without his leave, was to 
speak in the Locutory, or elsewhere, 
for any business, or to drink in the 
Refectory. He could make a search 
whenever he chose; and whenever he, 
or a Prior, or Monk, except in scru- 
tiny, passed through the Convent, he 
was to move his hood. m Before re- 
fection, after washing his hands, he 
was not to go to the Lavatory ; but his 
Chaplains, and the other Monks pre- 
sent, were to minister with basins and 
towels. 11 In the morning, or other 
times, he went to the Lavatory. He 
was not to follow the Convent after re- 
fection, but with his Chaplains " give 
thanks to the Lord." He could visit 
his manors without benediction if for 
not more than three days. He was to 
order Monks and Officials to obey the 
Prior in respect to the admission of 
visitors and external and internal dis- 
pensations. When he went out with 
benediction, the Monks were to meet 
him on their knees, and give the kiss 
of charity to his hand first, and to his 
mouth afterwards, if he offered it. The 
monks delivered any thing to him on 
their knees, kissing his hand, if he 
was seated ; if standing, without genu- 
flexion. He was to give orders to 
the Prior, when he wished to be let 

1 Dec. Lanfr. 

k In omni claustriloquio, abbate prsesente, solus 
prior sedebit ei collateralis, nullusque abus sine 
prsecepto abbatis. Senes et maturae persons ex 
opposito super tabulatum claustri sedebunt ; junio- 
res pedibus abbatis se humibabunt. f. 186, b. 

1 Ibid. Omnes uno gradu descendentes cum in- 
clinatione ei assurgent. Eodemque gradu stabunt 
donee abbas in consistorium reclinetur. f. 186, b. 

m ' Quociens abbas vel prior vel aliquis fratrum 
transierit per medium conventus amovebit capu- 
tium, nisi fecerit scrutinium. f. 186. 

n Ibid. — Ante cibi perceptionem post ablutionem 
manuum abbas non ibit ad lavatorium, sed capel- 
lani sui et rehqui fratres praesentes cum pelvibus et 
manutergiis ministrabunt. f. 186, b. 

Deer. Lanfr. 



ABBOT, ABBESS, 



89 



blood. When present in the Choir at 
mattins, he was to shew the lantern 
to the Prior, if he went to sleep. a He 
could speak when he found it neces- 
sary^ as could his Chaplains, or any 
other with him. When a sick man was 
dying, the Inrirmarer was to inform 
him, and, postponing all business, he 
was to hasten to him. b When he went 
to foreign parts, theleave of theChapter 
was requisite. He stood first at go- 
ing from Chapter, and received the kiss 
from the departing Monks. He was 
admitted upon his return as at first, 
except that he did not pull off his 
shoes. The Monks too then gave him 
the kiss of charity." In the comme- 
moration of parents he was to sing 
Mass. e 

To this confused detail of the cus- 
toms respecting Abbots at Abingdon, 
shall now follow the orderly narrative 
(literally rendered) of other duties and 
privileges appertaining to Ensham.* 



a Abbate ad matutinas in choro prassente lucu- 
brum ostendet priori si obdormierit. f. 187. 

b This was a very common request of a dying 
Monk. The Hebdomadary and certain Priests 
were to go to him in Deer. Lanfr. 

c Of the King at St. Alban's. M. Paris, 1051. 
Licet abbati ubicunque viderit expedire loqui ; lo- 
qui licet etiam suis capellanis et cuilibet alii exi- 
gente necessitate loqui cum abbate. f. 187. Quando 
infirmus laborat in extremis infirmarius mature 
abbati indicabit. Abbasque omni negotio postha- 
bito ad infirmum festinabit. Id. 188, b. 

d M. Paris (1051) adds to this, " the acceptation 
of small venice or pardons." 

e In commemoracione parentum abbas cantabit 
missam. MS. Harl. 209, p. 12. 

* From MS. Bodl. Barlow, vii. fol. 2—32. Ab- 
bas in vii fest' et sollempni processione debet 
utrasque vices, tertiam vel sextam pro tempore can- 
tare, et missam si vacaverit celebrare. In tabulari 
etiam debet ad matutinas in praedictis festis, etitem 
in vigilia natalis domini, et dominica palmarum, et 
in tenebris, dummodo in partibus cismarinis existat. 
In festis vero caparum, in voluntate ipsius, est dic- 
tum officium implere. Sed et in ceteris festis et 
in feriis interesse poterit, quandocunque voluerit. 
Sciendum item quod cum missis in capis, vel in 
albis interesse voluerit revestiat se, et teneat cho- 
rum. Dum abbas vesperas voluerit can tare, ponatur 
in vestiario vestimentum et capa, ad opus ejus 
aqua inbacinis argenteis, et manutergium, pecten, 
et mitra, cirotecse et baculus. Abbas vero pecti- 
nato capite et lotis manibus in vestiario, revestiat se 
alba, capa, mitra, cirotecis, annulo et baculo, capel- 
lanis ejus in omnibus humiliter ministrantibus. 
Eo revestito pulsetur classicum cum omnibus sig- 
»is. Qui ingredieng chorum superius cantoribus, 



The Abbot in the seven feasts and 
solemn procession sung both seasons, 

et priore pro tempore indutis proeuntibus procedat 
ad stallum suum inferius. Et notandum quod 
quando stallum sive sedile abbas incessurus fuerit, 
semper ornetur quarello sive sit revestitus sive non. 
Post classicum, abbas stans in stallo incipit Dens in 
adjutorium, et post inceptionem primi psalmi capiat 
senior baculum ejus, osculata ipsius manu, et 
reponat juxta eum. Et sciendum quod quandocun- 
que quis aliquid tradiderit abbati sive ab eo aliquid 
accepit, semper osculetur ejus manus. Sedente 
abbate, capellanus manitergium ex transverso gremii 
sui apponat, sicut semper quum est revestitus. Fi- 
nitis psalmis surgat, thuribulum sumat seniore tra- 
dente, capellani vero ejus ministrent sibi de capi- 
tulario* et de absconsa pro tempore abbas dicat 
capitulum cum mitra, sicut semper. Item in vii fest' 
et in sollempnibus processionibus, et in festis ca- 
parum pro tempore abbas, prsernunitus apraecentore, 
incipere debet a ' super psalmum Magnificat,' vel 
psalmum Benedictionem pro tempore, et notandum, 
quod quicquid abbas can tare vel legere aut incipere 
debuerit, precentor eum praemunire. Ad inchoa- 
tionem psalmi Magnificat vel Benedictus, abbas 
stans in stallo suo ponat incensum in thuribulum, 
capellano seu priore pro tempore ministrante de a'craf 
et incenso, et ministro seu capellano pro tempore de 
thuribulo, et sic procedant ad altare, priore pro 
tempore accepto thuribulo a sinistris abbatis eunte, 
et capellano thuribulum abbatis a dextris deferente, 
dicentes psalmum Magnificat, vel Benedictus, sive 
submissa voce psallentes pro tempore. Et flexis 
genibus super gradus ante altare tradat capellanus 
tburibulum abbati, et sustentet laciniam capae sua? ; 
sicque incensetur altare a dextris et a sinistris, prop- 
terea feretrum S. Egwini, deinde feretrum S. Wis- 
tani, praeterea tumba S. Wulsini : quo facto tradat 
thuribulum capellano, rediens ad stallum suum ; 
capellanus vero ejus et item prior pro tempore in- 
censetur eum. Item capellani ministrent ei de libro, 
et mitra, et absconsa pro tempore. Post Doniinns 
vobiscum ante Oremus deponatur mitra, et in fine ad 
Per omnia recipiatur ; et hoc servetur ad omnes 
collectas. Praeterea quum ad collectas super horas, 
quae semper dici debent cum mitra, post Benedica- 
mus primee collects? det abbas sollempnem bene- 
dictionem, sicut semper post vesperas, post matu- 
tinas, post missam suam cum celebraverit sive ca- 
pellanus ejus, nisi fuerit pro defunctis, et post 
prandium statim post gratias, ante ps. De profun- 
dis, vel si sit in conventu ante ps. Miserere. Istud 
observet abbas ubicumque fuerit, nisi legatus fuerit, 
seu archiep' vel ep'us, cui voluerit deferre. Forma 
sollempnis benedictionis primo faciat crucem cum 
pollice super pectus, dicens, " Sit nomen Domini 
benedictum ;" postmodum signans se subjungat, 
" Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.''' Deinde 
erigat manum signando populum, " Benedicat nos 
omnipotent Deus, Pater, et Fi/ius, et Spiritus ejus."' 
Si processio post vesperas facienda sit tunc, finitis 
commemorationibus procedat abbas ad altare ubi 
facienda fuerit, cantoribus praeeuntibus cum cereis, 
et conventu processionaliter subsequente. Quo 
cum pervenit, sumpto thuribulo incenset altare, et 
incensetur a capellano ; et dictis dicendis, redeatad 
vestiarium cantoribus praeeuntibus, et devestiat se. 
De officio Abbatis ad collationemct ad completo- 
rium. Si contingat abbatem collationi interesse, 

* The Gospel. f a'bra, MS. 



90 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



Tierce or Sext, according to the time, 
and celebrated Mass, if at leisure. He 



procedat in medio manicis cancellatis et capite dis- 
coopevto inclinans aliquantulum usque ad gradus, et 
facta inclinatione eat sessum. Adcujus adventum 
omnes surgant, et stent super inferiorem gradum 
inclinantes dum transit. Et notandum, quod ubi- 
cumque transit abbas per omcinas regulares, preter- 
quam in dormitorium, singuli stando inclinent ad 
eum. Sedente eo duo juvenes surgant, et discalcient 
cum flexis genibus : cum autem discalciatus fuerit, 
incipiat antiphonam Mandatum novum cantore pre- 
muniente : lotis ejus pedibus, juvenes, qui prius, 
recalcient eum, et sic revertantur ad sedes suas. 
Postea surgat, lavet manus suas, ministris mandati 
ministrantibus, et resideat ; finitisque omnibus an- 
tiph' et lectore dicente .Tube Domine benedicere, 
det benedictionem Angelorum custodia, &c. Ce- 
teris vero noctibus dicat Noctem quietam, &c. 
Post ea cimba percussa surgat, et procedat ad re- 
fectorium conventu processionaliter praseunte et 
duobus juvenibus pro tempore cereos coram eo de- 
ferentibus : cum pervenerit ad refectorium, proce- 
dat in medio capite discooperto, inclinans usque ad 
superiorem gradum, et facta inclinatione, eat ses- 
sum : deinde percusso tintinnabulo a refectorario 
surgat unus de capellanis abbatis, cum cseteris mi- 
nistrantibus de potu, et sumpta cuppa stet in me- 
dio ante caeteros. Cetera fiant secundum librum. 
Notandum quod duo juvenes stent utrumque ad di- 
gitum, et ministretur sicut semper quum abbas est 
presens. Et dumbiberit unus eorum subministret 
ei cum cooperculo, sicut semper ciphis coram con- 
ventu sufficienter appositis. Percutiat abbas men- 
sam cum palma manus et terminetur lectio, et mit- 
tatur cuppa una lectori. Deinde facto congruo in- 
tervallo tintet tintinnabulum semel. Et cum con- 
ventus sufficienter potaverit, tintet vero ter, et 
surgat. Et stans in gradu mediocri in medio in- 
clinet ad crucifixum, et ereotus dicat Adjutorium, 
&c. et iterum inclinet et exeat. Notandum autem 
quod durante collacione inquirant capellani volun- 
tatem abbatis, si velit remanere de completorio, vel 
item interesse, in voluntate enim ejus est semper 
remanere. Si velit remanere, capellani ejus cum 
accensa lanterna divertant sinistrorsum extra hos- 
tium ; et notandum quod quandocunque necesse 
fuerit, quocunque abbas ierit, preterquam in dor- 
mitorio, capellanus deferat lanternam accensam co- 
ram eo. Si ad completorium ierit, capellani ejus 
procedant cum conventu in ecclesiam, et dicantur 
quae dicenda sunt,Priore seu custode ordinis faciente 
sign a quae ad ordinem pertinent. Et notandum 
quod abbas nusquam faciet hujusmodi signa nisi in 
refectorio cum sederet ad digitum.* Finito com- 
pletorio inclinet abbas, et exeat ; ante trinam ora- 
tionem capellani vero ejus praesto sint extra chorum 
cum lanterna pro tempore ut cum ipso divertant. 
Quod si trinse orationi voluerit interesse, inclinet 
solus sicut semper, et hoc stando vel jacendo super 
formam pro voluntate sua, postea exeat primus, 
ceteris processionaliter subsequentibus, et asper- 
gantur aqua benedicta. Et notandum, quod ubi- 
cumque abbas aspergi debeat, tradatur ei asper- 
sorium, preterquam si interfuerit completorio. 
De Matutinis. In septem fcstis et in sollempni 

* Digitus is a certain quantity of water ; in this 
MS. it plainly signifies the washing of his hands at 
dinner. 



was in the table of Matins in those 
feasts,, and also in the Vigil of Christ- 

processione Abbas si vacaverit debet matutinis in- 
teresse, et in primo A secundam vel tertiam ant' 
pro tempore inchoare, octavum respons. cantare, et 
ultimam lectionem atque evangelium legere. Abbas 
det benediction es ante lectiones, sicut semper 
quando est praesens. Cum abbas lecturus sit lec- 
tionem, procedat aliquantulum manibus cancellatis 
et capite discooperto, et inclinet. Cui omnes as- 
surgant et inclinet dumintersit, sicut semper quum 
intersit per medium conventum ; post lectionem 
praesto sit capellanus suus, qui de manu ejus ab- 
sconsam accipiat : ipse vero procedat aliquantulum, 
sicut prius, et capiat parvam veniam, et revertatur 
ad stallum. Post ultimum responsorium sic inci- 
piat Te Deum, &c. semper quum est praesens, et 
inclinet. Notandum quod cum abbas lecturus sit 
Evangelium, sic. in vi fest. et in process, sol- 
lempn. post inceptionem hymni Te Deum praesto 
sit capellanus ejus retro chorum cum lanterna ac- 
censa qui ipsum praecedat in vestiarium. Et posito 
manutergio contra humeros abbatis, pectinetur, et 
lavet manus suas, capellanis ministrantibus ; postea 
induatur qui cantaturus missam exceptis sandaliis. 
Et accepto baculo procedat ministris preeeuntibus, 
capellanus sequitur in frocco usque ad gradus, et 
accipiens baculum dextrorsum, abbasque inclinans 
dicat, Da michi Domine sermonem rectum, &c. 
Postea erectus, deosculetur altare, et signet se. 
Deinde ponat incensum in thuribulo, etincens (sic) 
altar', ministro laciniam casulae sustentante ; pos- 
tea minister accepto thuribulo incenset abbatem, 
Tpo dico inclinante (q. if ipso [et] diacono inclU 
nante.) Sicque vadat ad analogium : subsacrista 
praesto sit cum absconsa, quam tradat abbati deos- 
culando ejus manum, libro prius super analogium. 
Ad GVa tibi Domine, capellanus prope stans depo- 
nat mitram, quam reponat dicta oratione, evatige- 
geiium et baculum tradat, sicque incipiat abbas 
Deus in Adjutor. et revertatur in vestiarium. Si 
laudes cantare voluerit, exutus casula stola et ma- 
nipulo induatur capa mitra cirotecis et baculo, et 
ingrediatur chorum superius, ciroferariis proceden- 
tibus usque ad gradus chori. Si non abbas praesens 
fuerit, et non legerit, sed laudes cantare voluerit, 
tunc post inchoationem hymni Te Deum, &c. exeat 
ut super, et revestiatur, ingrediaturque chorum 
superius, et eat ad stallum suum inferius, lectoque 
evangelio incipiat ipse Deus in Adjutor. &c. Et 
[si] capellanus vero ejus inter ymnum revestiatur 
ad ministrandum ut supra ad vesperas, alius capel- 
lanus ejus ministret sibi de capitulario et de ab- 
sconsa. Dictaque oratione et data bened. si velit 
exeat, et capellanus revestitus remaneat, et dicat 
dicenda, aliter capellanus ipsum sequatur. Si vero 
abbas processioni interesse voluerit, capellanus pro 
voluntate sua. dicat dicenda, et postea cnm abbate 
procedat. Si abbas praesens fuerit matutinis, et 
voluerit interesse laudibus, exeat post inchoationem 
Deus in Adjutor. capellanis suis cum lanterna extra 
chorum praesto exeuntibus. Et notandum quod 
quotienscumque abbas revestitus interesse voluerit 
processioni post vesperas, vel post matutinas, seu 
ante missam, capellanus deferat ei baculum pasto- 
ralem. 

De privata missa Abb' 1 is. Si abbas missam pri- 
vatam voluerit celebrare, capellani ejus ministrent 
ei cum omni humilitate et reverentia in preepara- 
tione calicis et replicatione vestimentorum, et in 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



91 



mas and Palm Sunday, and in the 
tenebrae,* if he was in inland parts. 

caeteris necessariis. Et unus eorum legat episto- 
lam. Si capellanus ejus celebret, abbas dicat Con- 
fiteor, sicut semper. Ante vero Evangelium ca- 
pellanus petat benedictionem ab abbate, missa pro 
defunctis dicens, Jube Dompne ben. &c. Abbas 
respondeat Dominus sit in corde tuo, &c. vel aliud 
quod voluit. Post evangelium alter capellanus de- 
ferat abbati librum ad deosculandum evangelii, ni 
fuerit missa pro defunctis. Item deferat ei Pacem 
post Agnus Dei, ni fuerit Prior praesens. Post ora- 
tionem Placeat tibi Sancta Trinitas det abbas be- 
nedict, num ipse celebraverit sive capella' ejus, ni 
fuerit missa pro defunctis. 

Be sessione Abbatis in Claustro. Abbas, quando 
voluerit et vacaverit, sedeat in claustro ante nos- 
trum capituli, et deferatur ei liber ad respiciendum 
si voluerit ; maxime autem ibi sedeat diebus domi- 
nicis ante primam, vel tertiam, ad audiendum con- 
fessiones fratrunt et precipue novitiorum, qui in 
initio suse conversionis diligenter sunt instruencli. 
Deputet et abbas aliquos fratres, quos viderit sa- 
pientores, qui una cum Priore confessiones fratrum 
audiant quando ipse non vacaverit. 

Be Capitulo. Abbas cum voluerit, et aliqua ex- 
pedienda habuerit, intret capitulum, conventu ibi 
exeunte. Intret autem ut supra ad collationem ; 
ad ejus adventum conventus iDclinet ut supra. 
Prior etiam seu prsesidens et senior abb'i propin- 
quior ex alia parte accedant ad deosculandam 
manum ob paternam reverentiam ; et notandum 
quod licet -ad collationem vel alias quam bora sta- 
tuta capituli abbas capitulum intraverit, non deos- 
culetur ejus manus. Posttabulam lectam dicatabbas 
' ' Animce fratrum" &c. conventus respondeat Amen, 
et ille Benedicite, et ille Dominus, iterum ille Loqua- 
mur de or dine nostro ; ad quod omnes inclinent ei, 
et postea tractentur quae tractanda sunt. Et ter- 
minetipse capitulum more solito, exiens cum capell' 
dicendo Verba mea. Notandum autem quod in 
vigilia natalis Domini, die coenae, die parascevse, et 
in vigilia paschae et pentecostes, Abbas si vacaverit, 
ante capitulum veniat in cborum, et precedat con- 
ventum in cap'lum ; cap'lo finito abb' inclinans 
versus conventum dicat Confiteor ; ceteri incli- 
nantes respondeant Misereatur, et postea Con- 
fiteor, et abbas dicat Misereatur : et post absolu- 
tionem, et omnes flectant genua ; postea exeat ut 
supra. 

De Dominicali jrrocessione. Si voluerit abbas 
processioni in diebus dominicis interesse, ingre- 
diatur chorum superius dum aqua benedicitur, et 
stet ibi in stallo suo, capellano a. dextris ejus cum 
baculo prope" astante. Sacerdos vero qui aquam 
benedixit, aspersa tumba sc'i "Wulsini, et inclinans 
et deosculans manum abb 'is, tradat ei asper- 
sorium. Qui aspergat seipsum, et postea sacer- 
dotem, et retradat aspersorium. Quo facto, 
capellanus tradat ei baculum pastoralem, et 
fiat processio, Abbate ultimo in medio gradiente 
(sic) cum baculo. Cum perveniunt in ecclesiam 
fiat statio, abb'e stante in medio, subtus fontes. 
Finite (sic) responsorio vel antipb. procedat cantor 
ad abbat. et dedicat (sic) cum eo De profundis, et 
fiat absolutio animarum abbatum ibidem quiescen- 
tium et omnium fidel' defunct'. Ad introitum in- 

a The nights in the Passion week, when the 
candles were extinguished, 



In the feasts of copes it was at his 
option to perform the above duty, but 



cipiet abbas responsor. vel antipb. pro tempore 
praemuniente. Et notand' quod ejus semper inci- 
pere an tip. vel resp' ad introitum quum est prse- 
sens. Introitu ecclesie abbas divertat dextrorsum 
capellanis, unus eorum reponat baculum pastora- 
lem, et alius cum eo procedat. 

De sollempniprocessione. Si abbas in aliquo festo 
caparum ad horam ante missam majorem, vel ad 
processionern prsesens esse voluerit, praemunitus a, 
praecentore ingredietur vestiarium cum capellanis 
suis ; primo pectinetur, postea lotis manibus in- 
duatur alba stola capa mitra cirotecis et annulo, 
capellanis semper ministrantibus. Deinde sumpte 
(sit) baculo pastorali ingrediatur chorum superius, 
et stet in stallo suo. Interim fiat exorcismus aquas 
benedictae si dominica fuerit, et aspersio ut supra, 
hoc adjuto quod abbas teneat baculum in manu si- 
nistra, dum aspergit se et sacerdotum. Aspersaque 
aqua bened. dicatur oracio dominica, priore faciente 
signa sicut semper item cum sit praesens, et inci- 
piatur hora. Si abbas praesens fuerit cantet horam, 
et capell us ejus ministret sibi de capitulario et aliis 
necess. Hora. cantata si sollempnis fuerit proces- 
sio, fiat thurificatio a Priore more solito, ita quod 
abbas incensum imponat, sicut semper quum est 
praesens. Tunc exeat processio, junioribus praece- 
dentibus, abbas sequatur ultimus in medio, capel- 
lanus ejus eat post seniores cum manitergio ; cum 
autem processio eat per coemiteria, fiat statio in 
ccemiterio monachorum cum ps. De profundis, et 
absolvantur animae ibidem et ubicumquein Christo 
quiescentium. Cumque pervenerint in ecclesiam 
fiat statio, et absolutio animarum abbatum ibidem 
quiescent, et omn' fidel' defunct. Si autem re- 
sponsor' cantand' sit ad stationem, sedeat abbas 
J usque ad repetitionem retractus post versum, vel 
j prosam pro tempore, et tunc fiat sermo si fuerit 
i habendus ; sin autem, fiat absolutio ut prius. Sta- 
tim finito retractu abbas praemunitus a, cantore in- 
cipiat ad introitum antiph' vel respons' pro tem- 
pore, et tunc fiat sermo si fuerit habendus ; sin 
autem, fiat absolutio ut prius. Statim finito re- 
tractu abbas praemunitus a cantore iiicipiat ad in- 
troitum antiph' vel sespons' pro tempore sicut sem- 
per quum est praesens. Conventu ingrediente 
chorum abbas divertat dextrorsum usque in ves- 
tiarium, et praeparet se ad missam fuerit celebra- 
turus. Si vero missam non fuerit celebraturus, et 
inter fuerit processioni, nihilominus divertat ut su- 
pra, et procedat ad altare cum quocunque missam 
celebraturo, ibidem more solito Confiteor et cetera 
dicturus ; postea regat chorum cum cantoribus, si 
velit interresse missae ; sin autem, revertatur in 
vestiarium, et devestiat se. Et notand' quod abbas 
semper quum est praesens procedere debet ad altare 
cum missam celebraturo, et ibidem dicere Confiteor, 
et caetera ut supra, seu sit revestitus seu non. 

Qualiter Abbas prceparet se ad Missam. Si mis- 
sam fuerit vii festum, deposita mitra et capa sedeat 
et discalcietur, ac sandaliis cum pertinenciis recal- 
cietur. Deinde lotis manibus tunica et dalmatica 
induatur capellanis et ministris ministrantibus et 

psallentibus bos ps'os Hac oracione dicta 

procedat abbas versus altare, Priore eunte a dextris 
ejus et capellano a, sinistris. Diaconus vero cum 
baculo pastorali, et subdiaconus cum texto procedat 
et ceteris ministris. Ad Gloria vero oflicium in- 



92 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



in other feasts and common days he 
was present when he pleased. It is to 



trent, et procedant usque ad gradus, et diaconus 
tradat abbati baculum, cseteris circumstantibus, ca- 
pellanoque mitram deponente, dicat abbas Confite- 
mini Domino, &c. postea Confiteor, &c. Ad ab- 
solutionem et remissionem flectant omnes genua. 
Quo dicta deosculetur abbas [abbis in MS.] tex- 
tum apertum sicut semper, et reponatur mitra. 
Postea tradat capellano baculum, et ascendat gra- 
dus coram altari, dicendo " Domine, exaudi ora- 
cionem meant, &c.'' Et inclinet dicens oracionem 
" Aufer h nobis,'* 1 &c. qua dicta erectus deoscule- 
tur altare, et signet se in erigendo ; dicat Adjutor 1 
nostr 1 de more solito. Et notand' quod induatur 
sandaliis solum in vii fest. et tunc solum cantantur 
prsedicti psalmi cum antiph. Item non induatur 
tunica et dalmatica, nisi in festis cum solempni 
process. Csetera vero omnia fiant semper ut supra. 
Item nullus collateralis cum abbate incedat nisi ad 
inissam. Incepto Kyrie eleeson thurificet abbas 
altare mitratus. Ad inchoandum " Gloria in ex- 
celsis " deponatur miti*a, et statim reponatur. Post 
Dominus voMscum ante Oremus, iterum deponatur, 
et ad Per omnia reponatur. Ad Epistolam sedeat 
usque ad Evangel, capellano sustinente laciniam 
casulse ex una. parte, et diacono ex alia. Capellanus 
et diaconus in vii festis canant submissa. voce co- 
ram abbate. Item abbas semper det benedictio- 
nem super legentes et cantantes, ad gradus, statim 
expletis eorum officiis. Ad inceptionem Evangel, 
surgat, capellano juvante, et baculum sibi tradente, 
atque mitram deponente. Post Credo in unum in- 
ceptum reponatur mitra, facta offerenda, colioca- 
toque calice et thurificato deponatur annulus et 
cirothecse : lavet suas manus Priore ministrante, 
siprtesens fuerit ; et notand' quod quociens abbas 
missam celebrat in capis, Prions est conducere 
eum ad altare. et facere offertorium, et ministrare 
in ablutione manuum, tarn post offert. quam post 
perceptionem si praesens sit, sin autem praecentor 
debet. Lotis manibus abbas vertat se ad altare 
dicendo orationem consuetam. Ad In spiritu hu- 
milit. deponatur mitra, et peragatur totum sine 
mitra. Post communionem lotis manibus abbas 
cirotecas resumat, annuloque digito imposito tiniat 
missam more solito. Post oracionem Placeat tibi, 
surnpto baculo vertat se ad populum, et det bene- 
dictionem, ut supra, ad vesperas, nisi fuerit missa 
pro defunctis. Tunc recedant ab altari usque in 
vestiarium eodem ordine quo prius acceperant ; 
abbate tunc baculum in dextra gestante et dicente, 
" Benedicite Sacerdotes," &c. cum priore et capel- 
lano, et aliis ministris sicut semper, et hoc in 
capis. 

De Prandio. Cum abbas in refectorio comedere 
voluerit, ponantur sex panes coram eo ad prandium 
de proprio silicet pane, et tres ad coenam. Sex vero 
ad eleemosynam, et duos ad s'cisiones faciendas in 
mensa. Ponatur etiam coram eo magnum potum 
cerviciae. Et quociens fuerit caritas, vini dimidium 
sextarium ponatur ad opus suum. Tempore igitur 
congruo intretrefectorium, etprocedat ut supra ad 
collationem iisque ad digitum, ubi lavet manus suas, 
Priore fundente aquam, et aliis ministrantibus de 
manutergio. Et notandum, quod refectorarii est 
providcre manutergium et bacinos cum aqua. Ma- 
nibus lotis faciat inclinationem, et pulset tintinna- 
bulum aliquantulum morose, et dicantur gratia? 
more solito, ipso item dante benedictionem lectori. 



be noted also, that when he chose 
to be present at Masses in Copes, or 
in Albs, he robed himself, and held the 
Choir. When he pleased to sing Ves- 
pers, the vestment and cope for his 
use, water in silver basins, towels, the 
comb, mitre, gloves, and staff, were 
placed in the Vestiary. The Abbot 
then having combed his head, and 
washed his hands, clothed himself in 
the Vestiary with the alb, robe, mitre, 
gloves, ring, and crosier, his Chaplains 
numbly attending upon him. Upon 
his being robed, a peal of all the bells 
struck up ; and entering the upper 
Choir preceded by the Chantors and 
Prior robed for the occasion, he went 
to his stall below, which whether he 
was in pontificals or not, was to be 
adorned with a carrel. a When the bells 
had done, the Abbot, standing in 
his stall, began Deus in Adjutorium ; 
and after the beginning of the first 
psalm, a Senior, kissing his hand, 
took the crosier, and laid it near him ; 
which ceremony of kissing his hand 
was to be always used upon the receipt 
or delivery of any thing from or to 
him. When he was seated, a Chaplain 
was to place a towel athwart his bosom, 
as was always usual when he was in 
pontificals. When the psalms were 
finished, he rose, and took the censer 
from a Senior, and his Chaplains at- 
tended him with the Gospel and lantern 
for the occasion; he then said the 

Duo juvenes stent ad digitum ex ima, et ali& parte, 
et ministrent ei sicut quum est ad digitum. Capel- 
lanus etiam ejus ministrent de coquina sicut sem- 
per quando praesiderit, uno de ministris digiti, vel 
ambobus cum necesse fuerit ipsum juvantibus ; unus 
etiam eorum subministret ei cum cooperculo dum 
bibit, sicut semper. Tempore congruo faciat soni- 
tum cum cochlearibus suis, et colligantur cochlearia. 
Cumque omnes comederunt, percutiat ter mensam 
cum cultello, et colligatur reievium. Quo collecto 
faciat signum cum manu super mensam, et termi- 
netur lectio. Et facta inclinatione a lectore, pul- 
set tintinnabulum ut supra, et dicantur gratise. 
Post Agimus tibi gratias, statim det solempnem 
benedictionem, ut supra ad vesperas. Conventu 
eunte ad ecclesiam Miserere, remaneat ipse cum 
priore et aliquibus de senioribus in refectorio : 
finiant gratias. Interim lavet sibi manus, priore 
et ceteris, ut prius, ministrantibus ; postea ducat 
eos in cameram suam ad potum. 

a Pew. There is a similar injunction in the 
Dec. Lanfr. § de abbate (with one or two additions), 
given in Mr. Tindal's Evesham, p. 178. 



ABBOT, ABBESS, 



93 



Gospel with his mitre, as he always did. 
Also in the seven feasts, and solemn 
processions, and in the feasts of copes, 
the Abbot, pre-admonished by the 
Chantor, was to begin the Antiphonar 
after the psalm Magnificat, or Benedic- 
tionem, according to the occasion ; and 
it was to be noted, that the Abbot was 
always to be forewarned by the Chan- 
tor of what he was to sing, read, or 
begin. At the beginning of the Mag- 
nificat, or Benedictus, the Abbot, stand- 
ing in his stall, put incense in the cen- 
ser, the Chaplain or Prior for the occa- 
sion assisting with the materials of the 
incense, and an assistant or Chaplain 
for the occasion with the censer ; and 
thus they were to proceed to the Altar ; 
the Prior for the occasion, with the 
censer, going on the left of the Abbot, 
and the Chaplain, with the Abbot's 
censer, on the right, saying the Magni- 
ficat, or Benedictus, or singing with a 
low voice, according to the occasion. 
The Chaplain then kneeling upon the 
steps before the Altar, gave the censer 
to the Abbot, and supported his 
train : and thus the Altar was to be 
censed on the right and left, also the 
shrines of certain saints : after this, 
the Abbot gave the censer to the 
Chaplain, and returned to his stall, 
and the Chaplain and Prior also for the 
occasion censed him. The Chaplains 
too attended him with the book, 
mitre, and lantern for the time. After 
the Dominus vobiscum before the 
Oremus, the mitre was to be laid 
down, and in the end at the Per omnia 
resumed ; and this use was to be ob- 
served at all the collects. Besides at 
the collects after the hours, which were 
always to be said with the mitre, after 
the Benedicamus of the first collect the 
Abbot gave his solemn benediction, 
as usually after Vespers, after Mat- 
tins, after his Mass, when he or his 
Chaplain celebrated (unless it was a 
Mass for the dead), and after dinner 
immediately next to the grace ; before 
the psalm De profundis, or, if he was 
in the Convent, before the Miserere : a 

a Sung upon going out from dinner. 



and this he was to observe, wherever 
he was, unless there was a Legate, 
Archbishop, or Bishop, to whom he 
wished to pass the compliment. In 
giving the benediction he first made a 
cross with his finger upon his bosom, 
saying, " Blessed be the name of the 
Lord/ 5 Then, pointing to himself, he 
added, " Our help is in the name of 
the Lord/' Then he was to elevate his 
hand as a token to the people, and 
say, f * Almighty God, the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, bless us/ 5 If a 
procession was to be made after Ves- 
pers, when the commemorations were 
finished, the Abbot was to go to the Altar, 
to which the procession was to be 
made, the Chantors preceding him 
with tapers, and the Convent following. 
When he came there, he censed the 
Altar, was himself censed by the Chap- 
lain ; and having performed the due 
service, returned to the Vestiary, pre- 
ceded by the Chantors, and unrobed. 

Of the Office of the Abbot at colla- 
tion and completory. If the Abbot 
happened to be present at the colla- 
tion, he proceeded up the middle with 
his arms across] and head bare, some- 
what bowing as far as the steps, and 
having made his inclination, went to 
his seat. At his coming all arose, and 
stood upon the lower step, bowing as 
he passed. And (continues the ru- 
bric) "whensoever the Abbot passes 
through the regular offices, except to 
the Dormitory, every one shall bow to 
him standing. When he is seated two 
youths shall rise and pull off his shoes 
kneeling. When he has his shoes off 
he shall begin the antiphonar Man- 
datum novum, the Chantor forewarning 
him. The feet-washing ended, the 
young men shall put his shoes on, and 
return to their seats. Afterwards he 
shall rise, wash his hands, the servants 
of the Maundy assisting, and sit 
down. When all the antiphonars are 
done, and the reader says i( Jube Domine 
benedicere," he shall give the benedic- 



b From the i astorns of the Monks, I follow 
Pliny's sense of cancello (See the Lat. Diet.) in 
which sense it is used in the Carthus. Rule. Mo- 
nast. Anglic, i. p. 951. 



9 4 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



tion Angelorum custodia, &c. if it be a 
sabbath ; but, on other nights, he shall 
say, Noctem quietam, &c. (Good night, 
&c.) After this, the bell being struck, 
he shall arise, and go to the Refectory, 
the Convent preceding in proces- 
sion, and the two youths, for the oc- 
casion, carrying tapers before him. 
When he comes to the Refectory, he 
shall proceed up the middle with his 
head bare, bowing as far as the upper 
step, and having made his inclination, 
sit down. The Refectioner then having 
struck the bell, one of his Chap- 
lains, with the attendants, ministering 
the drink, shall rise, take a cup, and 
stand in the middle before the rest. — 
It is to be noted, that the two youths 
shall stand at either side the digitus, 
and the service shall be that usual 
when the Abbot is present. Whilst 
he drinks, one of them shall attend with 
a cover, as is usual with the cups (when 
complete) laid before the Convent. The 
Abbot shall then strike the table with 
the palm of his hand, the reading 
shall end, and a cup be sent to the 
reader. Afterwards, at a proper in- 
terval, the bell shall ring once. And 
when the Convent has sufficiently 
drank, it shall ring three times ; he 
shall then rise, and standing in the 
middle step in the centre, make a bow 
to the crucifix, and then standing say 
" Adjutorium, Sec." and again bow 
and retire. It is to be observed, how- 
ever, that during the collation, his Chap- 
lains shall inquire whether he chuses 
to stay from Complin, or be present at 
it, for it is at his option always to 
stay if he chuses it. His Chaplains 
with lanterns shall turn to the left out 
of the gate, and it is to be noted, that 
whenever it shallbe necessary, wherever 
he goes, except in the Dormitory, a 
Chaplain shall carry a lighted lantern 
before him. a If he should go to Com- 
plin, his Chaplains shall proceed to 
the Church with the Convent, and 
the necessary service be said, the Prior 
or guardian of the rule making the 



Add. to Dec. Lanfr. in Tyndal's Evesham, 



proper signs. And it is to be noted that 
the Abbot shall never make signs of 
this kind unless when he sits at the 
digitus in the Refectory. At the end 
of the service the Abbot shall bow and 
retire ; and before the triple prayer, his 
Chaplains shall be ready out of the 
Choir with a lighted lantern for the 
occasion, that they may go out with 
him. But if he wishes to be present at 
the triple prayer, he shall bow alone 
as usual, either by standing or lying 
upon the form as he likes, and after- 
wards shall retire first, the others fol- 
lowing in procession ; who all shall be 
sprinkled with holy water. And it is 
to be noted, that whensoever the 
Abbot ought to be sprinkled, the 
sprinkle shall be given to him, unless 
he is present at Complin/" 

Of Mattins. In the seven feasts, and 
days of solemn procession, the Ab- 
bot, if at leisure, was present at Mat- 
tins, and in the first course of anti- 
phonars, according to the occasion, 
began the second or third antiphonar, 
sang the eighth responsory, and read 
the last lesson and gospel. He gave 
the benedictions before the lessons, as 
always when present. When he was 
going to read the lesson, he advanced 
somewhat with his arms crossed, and 
head uncovered, and bowed. All rose 
and bowed to him, as was usual b when 
he was present in the Convent as- 
sembled. After the lesson his Chap- 
lain was to be ready to take the lan- 
tern from him ; he advanced a little as 
before, took a small venia } c and re- 
turned to his stall. After the last re- 
sponsory he began TeDeum always when 
present, and bowed. It is to be 
noted, that when he was going to read 
the Gospel, if it was in the six feasts 
and in solemn procession, after the be- 
ginning of Te Deurn, his Chaplain was 
to be ready behind the Choir with a 
lighted lantern, to go before him to the 
Vestiary ; and a towel being put over 
his shoulders, he combed himself and 
washed his hands, his Chaplains as- 

b After the antiphonar was begun. Dec. Lanfr. 
c Penitential inclination, or genuflexion. Du 
Cange, 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



95 



sisting ; and he who was to celebrate 
clothed himself for singing Mass, the 
sandals excepted. Then taking the 
crosier, he advanced, and the Minis- 
ters going first, and the Chaplain follow- 
ing in his frock, as far as the steps, and 
taking the crosier from him on the 
right side, the Abbot bowed, and said, 
Grant me, O Lord, a right conversa- 
tion, &c. Afterwards, erect, he kis- 
sed the Altar, and crossed himself. 
Then he put incense in the censer, and 
censed the Altar, the Chaplain hold- 
ing his train ; who afterwards, taking 

the censer, censed the Abbot, 

Thus he went to the 

Lectern. The Subsacrist was ready 
with a lantern, which he delivered to 
the Abbot, kissing his hand, the book 
being first laid on the Lectern. At the 
Gloria tibi Domine, the Chaplain stand- 
ing near, took off the mitre, which he 
put on again, when the prayer was 
said; and delivered the gospel and 
crosier. The Abbot then began Dens 
in adjutoriurn, and returned to the 
Vestiary. If he wished to sing lauds, 
putting off the chesible, stole, and 
maniple, he was robed in the cope, 
mitre, gloves, and crosier, and en- 
tered the upper Choir, the taper- 
bearers proceeding to the steps of the 
Choir. If he was not present, and 
would not read, but wished to sing 
lauds, then, after the beginning of the 
Te Deum, he went out, as above, robed 
himself, entered at the upper Choir, and 
went to his stall below, and the Gospel 
being read, began himself Deus in 
adjutoriurn, &c. If his Chaplain, du- 
ring the hymn, was robed for minister- 
ing at Vespers, as above, another at- 
tended on him with the text and lantern. 
After the prayer and benediction he 
went out, if he chose, and the Chaplain, 
robed, remained and celebrated what 
was to be done ; otherwise he followed 
the Abbot. If the latter wished to be 
present in the procession, the Chaplain, 
according to his wish, said what was to 
be done, and afterwards joined the 
Abbot. If the Abbot was present at 
Mattins, and wished to be at Lauds, he 
went out after the beginning of the 
Deus in adjutoriurn, his Chaplains at 



hand, with a lantern out of the Choir, 
going forth [with him]. And it is to 
be noted, that, as often as the Abbot in 
pontificals wished to attend the pro- 
cession after Vespers, or after Mattins, 
or before Mass, the Chaplain brought 
him his crosier. 

Of the Abbot's private Mass. If he 
wished to celebrate a private Mass, 
his Chaplains attended him with all 
humility and reverence, preparing the 
chalice, unfolding the vestments, and 
performing other necessary services; 
and one of them was to read the epis- 
tle. If the Chaplain celebrated, the 
Abbot said as usual, Conjiteor. Before 
the Gospel, the Chaplain solicited 
benediction from the Abbot, saying, in 
the Mass for the dead, Jube Dompne 
ben. &c. to which the Abbot replied, 
Dominus sit in corde tuo ? &c. or any 
thing else he liked. x\fter the Gospel, 
another Chaplain brought him the text a 
to kiss if it was not a Mass for the 
dead : and if the Prior was not present, 
the Pax after the Agnus Dei. After the 
prayer, Placeat tibi Sancta Trinitas, 
the Abbot gave the benediction, whe- 
ther he himself or his Chaplain cele- 
brated, unless it was a Mass for the 
dead. 

Of the Abbot's sitting in the Cloister, 
The Abbot, when he liked, and was 
disengaged, sat in the Cloister before 
the door of the Chapter, and a book 
was brought to him to peruse, if he 
chose it ; but he sat there especially 
on Sundays before Prime or Tierce, 
to hear the confessions of the Monks, 
and especially of the Novices, who, in 



a A book of the Gospels, with the image of 
Christ, or the Virgin Mary, on the cover. The 
pax was of like use, only of silver, ivory, or even 
board. Davies says, " a marvellous fair book, 
which had the Epistles and Gospels in it; which 
book had on the outside of the covering the picture 
of our Saviour Christ, all of silver, of goldsmith's 
work, all parcel gilt, very fine to behold, which 
book did serve for the Pax in the Mass." The 
Gospel was brought to the Abbot, and the Pax 
likewise, to be kissed ; for they were distinct things ; 
the kiss of peace at the Mass was instituted by In- 
nocent I. in the year 407; the Pax after the Agnus 
Dei, by Leo II. in 681. The kiss of peace fol- 
lowed the consecration of the Host, when the Priest 
said u The Peace of our Lord," &c. but the third 
day before Easter it was omitted on account of the 
Passion. Du Cange, v. Osculum Pacts. 



96 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



the commencement of their conversion, 
were to be carefully instructed. The 
Abbot deputed some of the more pru- 
dent Monks to join the Prior in hear- 
ing the confessions, when he was him- 
self engaged. 

Of the Chapter. The Abbot, when 
he liked it, and had any business, 
entered the Chapter, upon the Con- 
vent's retiring. He entered as above at 
Collation ; and the Convent, as above 
also, bowed at his arrival. The Prior 
also, or President and Senior, next to 
the Abbot, came from the other side 
to kiss his hand from paternal re- 
verence ; and it is to be noted, that 
whenever at Collation or not the stated 
hour of Chapter, the Abbot entered 
that place, his hands were not kissed. 
After the table was read, the Abbot 
said, " The souls of all deceased breth- 
ren and all believers rest in peace f 
to which the Convent replied, "Amen.' 5 
And he again, " Benedicite," again 
" Dominus/' and then, " Let us speak 
of the order/ 5 All immediately bowed, 
and the business commenced. He 
finished the Chapter in the usual 
manner, by going out with his Chap- 
lains and saying Verba mea. It is to be 
observed, that if he was at leisure on 
the Vigil of Christmas day, Maundy 
Thursday, Easter-day, and the Vigils 
Easter and Whitsuntide, he came be- 
fore the Chapter to the Choir, and pre- 
ceded the Convent in going to the 
former place. When it was over, bow- 
ing to the Convent, he said, Confiteor, 
to which the others bowing answered 
Misereatur, and they afterwards Confi- 
teor, and he Misereatur. After the ab- 
solution, and all had knelt, he went 
out as above. 

Of the Sunday Procession. If the 



Abbot wished to be present at the 
Sunday Procession, he entered the 
upper Choir, while the water was con- 
secrating, and stood there in his stall, 
his Chaplain standing near on his right 
with the crosier. The Priest who 
consecrated the water, having sprinkled 
the shrine of Wulsin, bowed, kissed the 
Abbotts hand, and gave him the 
sprinkle. He then sprinkled himself, 
and next the Priest, to whom he then 
returned the sprinkle. After this the 
Chaplain gave him the crosier, and the 
procession began, the Abbot last, going 
in the middle with his staff. When 
they came into the Church, a stand was 
made, the Abbot being in the middle 
beneath the fonts. The response, or 
antiphonar, being over, the Cbantor 
proceeded to the Abbot, and said, with 
him, De Profundi's. Absolution was 
then pronounced of the souls of all 
the Abbots there lying, and all faithful 
persons deceased. The Abbot began 
the re sponsor y, or antiphonar, accord- 
ing to the occasion and warning of the 
Chantor at the entrance of the pro- 
cession, when he was present. Upon 
entering the Church, the Abbot turned 
to the right with his Chaplains, one of 
whom was to put by the crosier, and 
the other proceed with him. 

Of solemn Procession. If the Abbot 
wished to be present in any feast of 
capcE at the hour before the greater 
Mass, or at procession, according to 
the warning of the Chantor, he entered 
the Vestiary with his Chaplains, first 
combed himself, and then having 
washed his hands, put on the alb, stole, 
cope, mitre, gloves, and ring, his Chap- 
lains always attending upon him. 
Then he took his crosier, a entered at 
the upper Choir, and stood in his stall. 



a There were times when this was to be borne, and others when it was to be laid aside, at least in the 
same houses ; thus the customs of Abingdon say, among other instances : — 



Abbas si missam pro defunctis celebraverit ba- 
culum non portabit. Ad matutinas in processuad 
altare, nee in pronuntiatione evangelii baculum 
habebit. MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. p. 184. 

Quotiens abbas in conventu celebraverit vel cho- 
rum tenueritaut revestitus fuerit, baculum et ciro- 
tecas habebit. Fol. 184. b. 

In processionibus cum conventu chorum intra- 
bit, sed per medium chorum baculum minime por- 
tabit ; sed capellanus sinister in introitu chori ba- 
lum de abbate accipiet, et ad locum solitum re- 
feret. Fol. 186. a. 



If the Abbot celebrates the mass for the dead, he 
shall not carry his crosier ; nor at mattins in going 
to the altar, nor in reading the gospel. 

As often as he celebrates in the convent, or holds 
the choir, or is in pontificals, he shall have the 
crosier and gloves. 

He shall enter the choir with the convent in 
processions, but by no means carry his crosier 
through the midst of the choir ; his chaplain on 
the left hand shall take it upon entering the choir, 
and carry it to its usual place. 



ABBOT, ABBESS 



97 



In the interim, the holy water was 
consecrated, if it was a Sunday, and 
sprinkled as above, with this addition 
that the Abbot held his crosier in his 
left hand while he sprinkled himself 
and the priest. After the sprinkling, 
the Lord's prayer was said, the Prior 
making the signs, as was always usual 
when he was present, and the hour 
was begun. If the Abbot was present 
he sang the hour, and his Chaplains at- 
tended him with the Gospel and other 
necessaries. The hour being sung, if 
there was a solemn procession the 
censing was made by the Prior, except 
that the Abbot put in the incense, as 
he always did when he was present. 
Then the procession went forth, the 
juniors preceding ; the Abbot followed 
last in the middle, his Chaplain next 
to the seniors with a towel. When 
the procession went through the 
Church-yards, a stand was made in 
the coemitery of the Monks, with the 
psalm De profundis, and the absolution 
of all souls there and every where 
sleeping in Christ. When they came 
to the Church a like stand was made, 
and an absolution of the souls of Ab- 
bots there resting, and all faithful per- 
sons deceased. But if the responsory 
was to be sung at the standing, the Ab- 
bot was to sit till the repetition of the 
rctractus* after the verse or prose 
according to the occasion ; and then 
a sermon was made, if it was so to be ; 
if not, absolution, as before. As soon 
as the retr actus was over, the Abbot, 
forewarned by the Chantor, began at 
the entrance the antiphonar, or re- 
sponsory, according to the season, as 
usual when he was present. Upon 
the convent's entrance of the choir, the 
Abbot turned to the right to go into 
the Yestiary and prepare himself for 
Mass, if he meant to celebrate ; if not, 
but to attend the procession, he still 
turned off as above, and proceeded to 
the Altar with the person who was to 
celebrate, to say there, in the usual 
manner, the Confiteor, &c. and after- 
wards lead the choir, with the Chantors, 

a The retractus was the return of Tractus in the 
chant. 



if he meant to be present at the Mass : 
if not, he returned to the Vestiary, 
and unrobed himself. The Abbot al- 
ways, when he was present, was to 
proceed to the altar with him who was 
to celebrate, and there to say the 
Confiteor, &c. as above, whether in 
pontificals or not. 

How the Abbot prepared himself for 
Mass. If he was going to celebrate 
Mass, and it was one of the seven 
feasts, he laid aside his mitre and cope, 
and put on the sandals and appurte- 
nances. Then he washed his hands, and 
robed himself in the tunic and dalmatic, 
his chaplains and servants attending 
upon him, and singing certain Psalms. 
When this prayer was over, the Ab- 
bot proceeded towards the altar, with 
the Prior on his right, and the Chap- 
lain on his left. The Deacon ad- 
vanced with the crosier, and the Sub- 
deacon with the text and the other 
attendants. At the Glory they entered, 
and proceeded to the steps ; and the 
Deacon delivering the crosier to the 
Abbot (the others stood by), and the 
Chaplain taking the mitre off, the 
Abbot said, " Confess to the Lord," &c. 
and afterward Confiteor, &c. At the 
absolution and remission all kneeled. 
After which, the Abbot kissed the 
Gospel, which lay open, as usual, and 
the mitre was put on again. He then 
gave the crosier to his Chaplain, and 
ascended the steps before the Altar, 
saying, "Lord, hear my prayer/'' &c. 
When he said the prayer, "Aufer 
a nobis," &c. he bowed, and, when it 
was over, kissed the altar, and crossed 
himself as he was rising. He then 
said the Adjutorium, &c. in the name 
of the Lord. And it is to be noted, 
that he wore his sandals only in the 
seven feasts, when only the above 
psalms and antiphonars were sung. 
Neither did he wear the tunic and dal- 
matic except in feasts with solemn 
procession. All other things were done 
as usual. No one walked abreast with 
the Abbot, except to Mass. b At the 
beginning of the Kyrie eleeson the 

b Addit. to Deer. Lanfr. sect. De Abbate, in 
Tyndal's Evesham, p. 178. 

II 



98 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



Abbot censed the altar in his mitre, 
which was put off at the commence- 
ment of the Gloria in excelsis, and 
immediately resumed. After the Bo- 
minus vobiscum, before the Oremus, 
it was again taken off, and replaced 
at the Per omnia. At the epistle he 
sat till the Gospel, the Chaplain holding 
his train on one side, and the Dea- 
con on the other. On the vii feasts the 
Chaplain and Deacon sang in a low 
voice in the presence of the Abbot. 
The Abbot also always gave the bene- 
diction to those who read and sung, at 
the steps, immediately after their duty 
was over. At the beginning of the 
Gospel he rose, the Chaplain assisting 
him, delivering the crosier, and taking 
off the mitre. After the Creed was 
begun, the mitre was replaced, and (the 
offering made, and the chalice placed 
and censed), the ring and gloves were 
pulled off. He then washed his hands, 
the Prior attending upon him, if pre- 
sent ; and it was a rule, that as often 
as the Abbot celebrated Mass in capis, 
the Prior should lead him to the 
altar, and make the offertory, and 
minister in the washing of his hands 
both after the offertory, and after the 
communion, if he was present ; if 
not, the above duty devolved to the 
Chantor. When he had washed his 
hands, the Abbot turned himself to the 
altar, and said the usual prayer. At 
the In spiritu humilitatis the mitre was 
taken off, and the rest of the service 
said without it. When the Abbot had 
washed his hands after the commu- 
nion, he resumed his gloves, put on his 
ring, and finished the Mass in the 
usual manner. After the Placeat tibi,he 
took his crosier, turned himself to the 
people, and gave the benediction, as 
above, at Vespers, unless it was a Mass 
for the dead. They then departed 
from the Altar to the Vestiary in the 
same order as before, the Abbot then 
carrying his crosier in his right hand, 
and saying, (i Benedicite Sacerdotes, 
Sec.' 3 with the Prior and Chaplain and 
other attendants as usual ; and this in 
capis. 



Of Dinner. When the Abbot chose 
to dine in the Refectory, six loaves of 
his own bread (wassel, the finest sort) 
were put before him, six for dinner, 
and three for supper. There were six 
for alms, and two for cutting from at 
the table. Besides these, there was a 
great jug of beer ; and as often as there 
was a charity, half a sextary of wine. 
At a suitable time, therefore, he enter- 
ed the Fratry, and proceeded as above 
at the collation to the digitus, where 
he washed his hands, the Prior pour- 
ing out the water, and others attend- 
ing with a towel. And the rule was,. 
that the Refectioner should provide a 
towel and basons with water. When 
he had washed his hands, he made a 
bow, and rang the bell somewhat late. 
Then grace was said iir the usual man- 
ner, himself giving the benediction to 
the Reader. Two young men stood 
at the digitus from the lowest and other 
side, and ministered to him as when he 
was at the digitus. His Chaplain also 
ministered from the kitchen as always 
when he presided, one of the servants 
of the digitus, or both, if necessary, as- 
sisting him. One of them, too, minis- 
tered to him with the cover, when he 
drank, as was usual. At a fit time he 
made a noise with the spoons, and 
they were collected. When all had 
dined, he struck the table three times 
with his knife, and the fragments were 
collected. After this he made a sign 
with his hand upon the table, and 
the reading ceased. The reader having 
made a bow, he rang the bell as above, 
and grace was said. After the Agimus 
tibi gratias, he immediately gave the 
solemn benediction, as above at Ves- 
pers. The Convent going then to the 
Church with Miserere, Ps. 51st, he re- 
mained with the Prior, and some of 
the Seniors in the Refectory, and 
grace was ended. In the mean while, 
he washed his hands, the Prior and 
others assisting as before ; after which 
he took them to his chamber to 
drink. 

Besides these high distinctions, dis- 
cipline was to be always observed in 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



99 



his presence ; and in reproof, the de- 
linquent was to stand till he ordered 
him to sit, and repeatedly solicit par- 
don as long as he was angry. The 
Abbot was, however, to shun this be- 
fore Seculars. When he was in the 
Choir, no one was to discipline the 
children without his orders ; and while 
he was a-bed in the morning, the mas- 
ter was to wake them at the proper 
hour, by striking the rod upon their 
bed-clothes; after which they were to 
wash, comb themselves, say their pray- 
ers, go to their school, and sit silent until 
the Abbot rose. When he sent letters 
to the Convent, all were to bow and 
kneel, as to those of the Pope and King; 
for other persons they only bowed. 3 
If he gave a command, the Monk who 
received it was immediately to kneel. 
If a Monk came to him, he was to say 
Benedicite, and then tell the cause of 
his coming ; nor was he to sit in his 
presence, or depart without his leave ; 
after which he was again to say Bene- 
dicite, and go. If any thing new was 
done in his absence, it was to be sub- 
mitted to his discretion upon his re- 
turn ; and when he staid out a whole 
night, a Monk, penanced with absti- 
nence^ was, upon his return, ab- 
solved. 13 

Abbots had separate tables, because 
living in penitence, and using only the 
common viands, strangers would be no 
expence to them. The frugal would 
there see an example to confirm them 
in that virtue, and the bon-vivant a 
condemnation ; the presence of the 
Superior would, too, impress respect, 
and prevent deviation from bienseance 
and edification. Very different conse- 
quences, however, caused the Council 
of Aix in the ninth century, and Dun- 
stan after them, to decree that the Ab- 
bot should dine in the common Refec- 
tory ; and, though the Cistercians, who 

a "When their (the Barons') letters were read 
upon occasions in any assemblies, the Commons 
present would move their bonnets." Smith's Lives 
of the Berkeley Family, MS. 270. See also State 
Trials, vol. I. p. 25. Fol. Ed. 

b Deer. Lanfr. de Abbate. 



professed to follow the rule of Bennet 
in its literal strictness in reviving the 
separate table, took precautions to pre- 
vent the consequence, excess and good 
cheer, these precautions, whatever 
may be the elegant and judicious 
Malmesbury^s assertion/ were useless. e 
Fastred reproaches an Abbot for having 
himself served in his guesfs hall when 
he had no company, on purpose to 
have more means of satisfying his ap- 
petites, for imitating in his dress and 
furniture the magnificence of Dives, 
for having exquisite food, fresh fish 
seasoned in different manners, and 
bread made out of the house by wo- 
men/ By the injunctions too of the 
villains, whom the villain Henrys stiled 
his visitors, the Abbot's table was " not 
to be somptious or full of delicate and 
forayne dishes, but honestlye furnished 
with comon meate, at which table 
the said Abbot, or some Senior in 
his stede, shall sit to receive the 
guests."* 1 

Notwithstanding these accounts, se- 
parate habitations for Abbots are men- 
tioned as early as the reign of Alfred 
the Great ; l and yet ^Ethelstan, Abbot 
of Ramsey, is described as dining with 
his Monks in the common Refectory . k 
It is plain, by Lanfranc's Decretals or- 
dering the master of the novices so to 
wake the children in the morning as 
not to disturb the Abbot, that he was 
supposed to sleep in the common Dor- 
mitory ; yet the Synod of London, 
held in the reign of Henry I. was 
obliged to order that they should eat 
and sleep in the same house with their 
Monks, unless prevented by any ne- 



c Devoirs de la Vie Monastique, vol. II. p. 
307-11. 

d Who says they never had but two dishes for 
themselves or others. De W. 2. p. 72. 
e Dev. V. M. ut sup. f Id. p. 312. 

s Drayton says, that, temp. H. VIII. the worst 
man in the house was elected Abbot ; 

That, by the slander which from him should 

spring, 
Into contempt it more and more might bring. 

Leg. of T. Cromw. E. of Essex. 
* MS. Cott. Cleop. E. IV. p. 22. a. 
1 M. Par. 992. k Hist. Ramer. c. lxxxix, 

H 2 



100 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



cessity. a These passages show, that 
some separate abbatial habitations and 
tables existed, by the abuse of retain- 
ing the primary practice previous to 
the revival of it by the Cistercians. 

It was expected* of Abbots that they 
should associate with their Monks in 
preference to Seculars .b The customs 
of Abingdon enjoined, that before 
Easter the Abbot should invite, twice 
or thrice in the week from custom, 
sixteen or seventeen, or twelve Monks 
to his table alternately, or any other 
at a different time, whom he should 
chuse (though boys and youths were 
neither to go there or elsewhere at any 
time without masters) ; in which case, 
the Abbot's Chaplain was to announce 
the invitation to the Refectioner, and 
he to the Prior, presiding in the Fra- 
try. c At Croyland, every principal 
feast three Monks were to dine at the 
Abbot's table, every second feast two, 
and on certain days the Prior. It was 
also enacted, that every day in the 
year two Monks should dine in the 
Abbot's hall, whether he was present 
or not. d This invitation, however, the 
Abbot was to extend no farther than 
when he had not other visitors. e The 
Monks thus invited used to absent 
themselves from celebrating Masses 
on that day; f and the preference in 
point of precedence s at the table, of 
juniors to seniors, through office, or 
otherwise, occasioned, it seems, dis- 



a Eadm. 68. b m. Faris. (2d) 1048. 

c Abbas quemcunque de conventu ad mensam 
convivarum vocare voluerit, vocabit ; pueri autem 
et adolescentes, sine custodia, nee ad refectionem 
abbatis nee alibi aliquando debent esse, vel incedere. 
Si abbas aliquem vocabit ad mensae convivium ca- 
pellanus abbatis indicabit refectorario, refectorarius 
referet priori qui ad mensae consistorium sederit. 
MS. Cott. Claud. B. VI. p. 187. Abbas ex con- 
suetudine bis vel ter in ebdomada senos vel sep- 
tenos, denos vel duodenos, ad mensse convivium 
alternatim vocabit. Id. 188. 

d Contin. Hist. Croyl. 499. 

e Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1444. c. vii. 

f Ibid. 

b The Abbot promoted Monks by only saying to 
them in Chapter "go sit next to that person /'after 
which they always took that rank. Dec. Lanfr. 
There was a promotion called Emancipation, which 
released Monks from Obedience. Du Cange, v. 
Emancipatio. 



content. h The Monks, too, behaved 
ill: (i not abstaining from detractions, 
contentions, and vain gossipings. 1 " The 
guests of Abbots, however, no doubt, 
consisted, at least some, of their secu- 
lar relatives, whom they had constantly 
on visits to them. k 

The power of an Abbot was limited 
only by deviations from the rule ;1 and 
latterly at least, there was no appeal 
allowed, because it would be to appeal 
from the law itself . m But whatever 
was his power, if he or any officer was 
too rigid, the Monks either fled, n or 
made his life uncomfortable ;° accord- 
ingly, in the latter seras of Monachism, 
in case any dispute arose between the 
Prelates of different houses, or the 
Prelates and their Convents, it was to 
be referred to the visitors of those 
houses, or presidents of the last gene- 
ral Chapter ; who were to appoint ar- 
bitrators, and if they failed it was to be 
delayed till the general Chapter.P But 
in the reign of Henry VIII. it was 
lawful to appeal to his visitors ; and 
the Prior of Walsingham says, if he 
offered correction, his Monks "would 
rather appeal, as this man did, to the 
intent that in so doing they may lyve 
in great liberty ."^ The Monks, too, 

h C. G. North, ut sup. c. x. 

1 Similiter ita cum fratres ad mensam abbatis 
vel prioris vocati fuerunt, vel in oriolo comederunt, 
a. detractionibus, contentionibus, et vanis confabu- 
lationibus, omnino abstineant. MS. Cott. Claud. 
E. IV. f. 243. 

k M. Par. 1100. The number of the Abbot's 
and Convent's visitors was sometimes settled be- 
tween them. When he was at home all belonged 
to him ; when absent, all who had more than 13 
horses, if they were religious or specially invited 
by the Prior. Monast. i. 299. (S. Edm. de Burgo.) 
Whiting of Glastonbury entertained 500 persons of 
fashion at one time ; and upon Wednesdays and 
Fridays all the poor of the country were relieved by 
his particular charity. Collinson's Somers. II. 256. 
The Prior of Durham constantly maintained four 
old women. Davies, &c. The master of the song- 
school too, had his diet in the Prior's hall among 
the Prior's gentlemen. Ibid. 

1 Bernard in Dev. Vie Mon. v. I. p. 226. 

m Du Monstier. 504. 

,n Qui cum eis arctius frsena teneret, coepit dis- 
plicere aliquibus, de quorum numero iv. a fuga non 
abstinentes, i. e. being too strict four took disgust 
and fled. MS. Bodl. Wood, II. p. 213. 

° Monast. from memory. 

p Reyn. App. 130, 162. 

q MS. Cott. Cleop. E. IV. f. 101, a. 



101 



had other modes of vexing the Abbot. 
He had one key of the place where 
the Convent seal was kept, and the 
two others, or more, were in the hands 
of fit persons appointed by himself or 
the Convent. This seal could not be 
applied without consent of the Chapter; 
and a visitor was obliged to order, 
" that the Abbot should diligently ex- 
hort and persuade his Monks, easily 
and lovingly, to give consent to expose 
and bring out the common seal to seal 
the deeds, which the Abbot, with the 
counsel of the more prudent, thought 
good to be sealed for the benefit of the 
house." a 

Commensurate with the power of 
an Abbot, were his privileges. At one 
time to make knights b — to confer the 
lesser orders c — to dispense with, irre- 
gularities in his Monks — to give the 
benediction any where — to consecrate 
Churches and cemeteries, and other 
Ecclesiastical appendages d — to appoint 
and depose Priors of cells e — to hold 
visitations once a year, and if there 
was a necessity oftener f — to regulate 
the reception of Nuns in subservient 
houses,? and to give the benediction to 
subject Nuns. h — Besides parliamentary 
honours, they were sponsors to the 

a Ut abbas diligenter exbortet et inducat fratres 
ut facile et diligenter consensum prsebeant ad ex- 
ponendum et perducendurn sigillum suum com- 
mune, ad sigillandum ea quse abbas in CGnsilio sa- 
niorum domus pro utilitate et necessitate rnon. 
duxit sigillandum. MS. in tbe Asbmol. Mus. 
1519, p. 26, a. See too § Monks and Nuns. 

b Hearne's Antiq. Disc. I. p. 82-90. 

c Tbe bisbop of tbe diocese conferred tbe greater, 
as in several bulls of privilege appears ; but of tbis 
see Lyndw. 32. Tbe formula for Abbots making 
tlerks is in MS. Bodl. Barlow, 7. 

d Chronol. Augustin. Cant. e M. Paris, 1033. 

f Ibid. In tbese visitations tbey received the 
bomage of tenants (Monast. i. 299), corrected 
abuses (id. ii. 940), and enacted statutes for tbe re- 
gulation of tbeir subject Nuns and Ecclesiastics 
(MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 369: , who then swore 
fealty, i. e. not to appoint or depose a Prior, receive 
a Nun, nor grant or abenate territory. Monast. 
i. 353. Accounts were then also taken of the 
Monastic property, dues, &c MS. Harl. 1005. 
f. 69, b. As to fealty, Abbots also made it to one 
another. See Gutch's Collectanea Curiosa, p. 53. 
33 Ed. III. Thomas de Brownal, Abbot of Croy- 
land, made to Robert de Camiley, Abbot of Peter- 
borough, fealty for lands which he held. MS. Harl. 
604, f. 3, a. 

e Monast. i. 489. h M. Paris, 1035. 



children of the blood royal.* Some of 
the higher order had the privilege of 
coining, but that of impressing their 
own name and effigies was limited 
(Ruding thinks) k to Archbishops only. 
Bells were rung in honour of them 
when they passed by Churches be- 
longing to them. 1 They rode with 
hawks on their fists, on mules with 
gilded bridles, saddles,™ and cloths of 
blood colour," and with immense reti- 
nues. The noble children, whom they 
educated in their private families, 
served them as pages. p They stiled 
themselves by " divine permission/ 5 
or the " grace of God/ 5 and their sub- 
scription was their surnames, and name 
of the house. q They associated with 
jjeople of the first distinction, and 
shared the same pleasures with them, 
being accustomed to visit and dine 
with them. r The Abbot of St. Alban's 
usually sat alone at the middle of the 
table of the great hall, [because the 



1 Lodge's Illustrations, i. 27. Monast. i. 160-5. 
Mitred were not consequently Parliamentary Ab- 
bots, the summons merely depending upon the te- 
nure. Cowell, v. Mitred Ablots. 

k Coinage, iv. 163. Ed. 2. 

1 X Script, col. 1920, 1923. 

m The reformation of the Clugniacs, A 1233, 
forbids their Abbots and Priors riding without a 
saddle and crupper. Bullarium Romanum, v. i. 
p. 101. 

n Warton's History of English Poetry, ii. 330, 
395. 

M. Par. 1101. When Abbot Whiting went 
abroad, which he did seldom but to national synods, 
general chapters, and parliaments, he was attended 
by upwards of 100 persons. Collinson (from San- 
ders) ut supra. 

p Wart. ii. 445. Fiddes's Wolsey Collect. 23. 
Whiting had near 300 pupils (credat Judaeus), be- 
sides others of a meaner rank, whom he fitted for 
the universities at home. Collinson and Sanders. 

i Morant's Colchester, 144. Latymer Wygorn. 
is the signature of the Prior of Worcester, in MS. 
Cott. Cleop. E. iv. 

r Brit. Topogr. ii. 461.— In MS. Harl. 913, 
fol. 8 — 10, is a song made against the " luxurious 
Abbot and Prior of Gloucester, in vile Latin 
Rhythms on purpose.'' Here are a few stanzas, 
the whole being in my History of Gloucester City : 

Quondam fuit factus festus, 
Et vocatur ad comestus 
.Abbas, prior Gloucestrensis, 
Cum tota familia. 

Abbas ire sede sursum, 
Et prions juxta ipsum, 
Ego stavi semper dorsum 
Inter rascabilia. 



102 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



Lord's seat was there; strangers of rank 
sitting above a] where he was served 
in plate; and when any nobleman, or 
ambassador, or strangers of eminent 
quality, came thither, they sat at his 
table towards the end of it. b Like 
the nobility too, they had their " privy 



"Vinum (obliter.) 
Ad prioris et abbatis, 
Nichil nobis paupertatiSy 
Sed ad divites omnia. 

Abbas bibit ad prioris, 

Date vinum ad majoris*, 

Prosit esse de minorig 

Si se habet gratizL 

Hoc est bonum, sic potare 
Et conventui nichil dare, 
Quorsum volunt nos clamare 
Dura in capitulo. 

The Prior then proposes going away for a time. 

Surge, cito recedamus, 
Hos'tes* nostros relinquamus, 
Pro termino jam precamus, 
Ibimus in claustra ; 

Post Completumf redeamus, &c» 
Dixit abbas ad prioris, 
Tu es homo boni rnoris, 
Quia semper sanioris. 
Mihi das consilia. 
Post com pie turn rediere, 
Ad currinum % combibere, 
Potaverunt usque flere, &c. 

That is, 
The Abbot and Prior of Gloucester, and suite, 
Were lately invited to share a good treat ; 
The first seat took the Abbot, the Prior hard by, 
"With the rag, tag, and bobtail below was poor I. 
[For] Wine [for the Abbot and Prior they call], 
To us poor devils nothing, but to the rich all. 
The blustering Abbot drinks health to the Prior, 
Give wine to my lordship, who am of rank higher ; 
If people below us but wisely behave, 
They are sure from so doing advantage to have ; 
We'll have all, and leave nought for our brothers 

to take, 
For which shocking complaints in the Chapter 

they'll make. 
Says the Prior, " My lord, let's be jogging away, 
And to keep up appearances, now go and pray.'' 
" You're a man of good habits, and give good ad- 
vice," 
The Abbot replies — they return'd in a trice, 
And then without flinching stuck to it amain, 
Till out of their eyes ran the liquor again. F. 

* For hospites — guests. 

f Complin, a fine piece of oblique satire, as will 
appear hereafter. 

% i. e. till the return of day, 

a Archaeologia, xiii. 321. 
• h Brit. Topogr.ii. 4G2. See Archeeol. xiii. p. 321. 



councils" of certain monks, c called 
maturifr aires. In the very old Rules, 
Seniors were deputed (as many as 
twelve in large houses) to assist and 
advise the Abbot ; and they were to 
be men remarkable for probity and 
science. d 

Their secular tenures introduced 
them into a variety of incongruous 
offices, as that of going to war, e though 
substitutes of knights were mostly 
sent/ or tenure in free alms pretended. & 
Some of them were justices itinerant, 11 
in violation of the Rule ;* and till the 
'dissolution they were employed to col- 
lect the dismes, "a shrewde labor" 
(says the Prior of Bromholm) "for 
us a grete cost, a shrewde juparde." k 
This office they commonly shifted off 
upon one of their Monks; 1 and, to 
prevent malice, they were not to be 
appointed by any Bishop to collect 
dismes out of the country of their resi- 
dences." 111 

Besides skill in writing and illumi- 
nating, and various arts, we find Ab- 
bots Physicians. 11 I apprehend they 
were in general good agriculturists. 
Thomas Lord Berkeley in the 13th 
century, when part of his pupilage was 
spent, was endowed by his father with 
the manor of Bedminster, near Bristol, 
not only for his expences,but to initiate 
him in husbandry, where he continued 
till he married; the Abbot and Prior 
of St. Augustine's, and the Master of 
St. Catherine's hospital, being his in- 
structors and tutors in it. v ° Many 
of the large number of pupils, which 
Whiting, Abbot of Glastonbury, and 
others had, might have been sent for 
the acquisition of similar knowledge, 
if not intended for the Church; for 
arms and agriculture were in these ages 



c Five of the older and healthier Canons to be a 
council to the Abbot on business of the house. 
Barrett's Brist. 265. Du Cange, v. Discretes. 
1 d Du Cange, y. Seniores Monasteriorum. 

e Dodechini Append. toM. Scot, sub anno 1110. 
Du Cange in v. Hostis. 

f Walt, de Whittleseye, p. 172. 

e Ayloffe in Edmondson, i. p. 72. 

h Brinkeland in Hearne's Antiq. Disc. i. p. 64. 

> M. Paris, 770. k Paston Letters, Hi. 406. 

1 W. Thome, c. 37, § 3. m Stat. 9H.V.C.9, 

u M.Par. 242. ° Sinythe's Berkeley's MS. 166. 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



103 



the chief branches of Baronial educa- 
tion. 

The public dress of an Abbot is 
known to have consisted of the Epis- 
copal ornaments of the Dalmatic or 
seamless coat of Christ, signifying 
holy and immaculate piety ; of the 
Mitre, emblematic of Christ, the head 
of the Church, whose figure Bishops 
bore ; of the Crosier, or pastoral care ; 
of the Gloves, which, because occa- 
sionally worn or laid aside, typified the 
concealment of good works for shun- 
ning vanity, and the demonstration of 
them for edification ; of the Ring, as 
Christ was the spouse of the Church, 
and Scripture mysteries were to be 
sealed from unbelievers, and revealed 
to the Church : a and of the Sandals, 
because, as the foot was neither covered 
nor naked, so the Gospel should neither 
be concealed nor rest upon earthly be- 
nefits^ The Mitres appear to have 
been worn, like those of Bishops, 
though, it is said, the Episcopal were 
gold, the Abbatial argent garnished 
gold, all of them with Murrey labels, 
a mere distinction of the writer or 
painter. d Their parliament robes [" a 
perlement robe of quite furry d with 
lettese,^ says an inventory e ] were how- 
ever different from the Episcopal, for 
they wore gowns, hoods, and cassocks. f 
The inventory adds, "an abbet lynt 
with quite (white) sattin ; a kirtill of 
white ; a quite abbet furred ; a blak 
gown furred with shanks (the shank of 
a kidde, says Minshew, which beareth 
the fur that we call budge) and a hood. 
The pastoral crooks (called the staves 
of justice and mercy s) were sometimes 
barely curled, sometimes more orna- 

a Gemvna Animoe de antique* ritu Missarum, c. 
211, 12, 14,15, 16. 

b Rab. Maurus de instit. Cleric. L. i. c. 22, 
p. 574. 

c Fiddes's Wolsey Coll. p. 113. 

d In the MS. Coll. of Arms cited above, the la- 
bel is in fol. 28. b. Murray ; in 34 a. Green ; in 
37 b. Or ; in 47 b. White. 

£ MS. in Mus. Ashmol. 1519, p. 142, a. Let- 
tice was a white fur, called also Lituit. See Biome's 
Heraldry, p. 17. 

f Fiddes, ut supra. 

s Du Cange, v. Investitura. Some were of 
Ivory. Id. v. Crochia. 



mented, sometimes like beadles' staves, 
more like maces than crosiers. In the 
9th century we have one very short, 
like a lituus^ but as there is mention 
of a choral staff, which they carried in 
the Choir, 1 perhaps there were two 
kinds of Crosiers ; at least one for 
state only. Though the ferula Abba- 
tum was a Crosier, yet a Crosier might 
not be a ferula, and the wooden pas- 
toral staff, often found in the tombs of 
Abbots, might be the common ferula, 
distinct from the state Crosier, k which 
would be preserved from value, not bu- 
ried. The rings worn on various fingers 
were either of a circular or oval form, 
and set often with seals of arms and de- 
vices, and antique gems. 1 The Bull of 
Honorius, respecting the privileges of 
St. Alban's, only allows the Abbot to 
use his pontificals m within his own 
churches and cells on festival days, and 
on other times within the house to wear 
the habit conformable to the rule; 11 
and they did so, though with trifling 
uncanonical variations. Some Abbots 
of Evesham clothed themselves from 
the Monks, common chamber.P The 
foppish prelate who wore the taberd, 
which the French called Canis^ de- 
spising the common round robe of 
Priests, and had double garments of 
scarlet, crimson, and party-coloured, 
scarcely reaching to the knees, and 
boots without a fold, " like the sign of 
the leg," is a singular instance. 1 " 

Bishops sometimes did not choose 
to appoint Abbesses, but kept the 

h Maillot's Costumes, iii. 52, pi. 13, f. 2. 

' Du Cange, v. Baculus Choralis. 

k Du Cange, v. Ferula. 

1 Gough's Sepulch. Mon. vol. i. Introd. cliii. 
clxxi. 

m Of respect had to revenue in the use of these, 
see Wilk. Concil. iii. 142. 

n Monast. i. 180. ° Reyn. Append. 195, 6. 

p Monast, i. p. 148. 

i Or Camis, a thin gown. See Spens. F. Q. 
B. ii. c. 3. st. xxvi. 

r Spreverat in sacerdotibus rotundam communis 
habitus capam, et taberdam quam Gallici canem 
appellant, induerat : vestes ejus ex scarleta moret& 
vari& duplices erant vix genua contingentes. Ocreas 
habebat in cruribus, quasi innatae essent, sine plica 
porrectas. MS. Bodl. James, N° 6, p. 121. The 
last sentence is in print in Tyrwhitt, and Johnson 
and Steevens. 



104 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



government in their own hands ; or 
where there was no competent Nun, 
would commit the Temporals to one, 
and the Spirituals to another. Ab- 
bessess too were deposed by complaint 
of the Nuns ; even for inattention to 
repairs of buildings, a point very strict- 
ly impressed upon all governors of re- 
ligious societies. 51 

Abbesses were distinguished by the 
pastoral staff, b and veil of prelacy con- 
ferred at sixty years of age. c The 
dress of an Abbess of the twelfth cen- 
tury consists only of a long white 
tunic, with close sleeves, probably made 
of linen, and a black surcoat of equal 
length with the tunic, the sleeves of 
the surcoat being large and loose, and 
the hood drawn up so as to cover the 
head completely.* 1 Elmston Abbesses 
have wimples finely plaited and com- 
ing upon the chin, and on one of them 
it covers the sides of the face like a 
hood ; both have the mantle. The 
Abbess at Goring, in the fifteenth cen- 
tury, has very little of the appearance of 
a religious ; her mantle resembles those 
of Lay ladies ; her gown is buttoned 
in front down to the toes ; she wears 
the mitten sleeves buttoned ; her head- 
dress is reticulated and studded ; and 
her tresses fall loose upon her shoul- 
ders. 6 

We hear of learned Abbesses/ In 
the Anglo-Saxon eera they attended 
Provincial Synods.s 

The great duty of an Abbot was to 
set the example in the observation of 
the rule. h The Abbot of Feversham 
says, " The cheyf office and profession 
of an Abbot [is] (as I have ever taken 
it) to lyve chaste and solytarilye, to 
be separate from the intromeddlynge 
of worldleye thinge, and to serve God 
quietlye, and to distribute his facul- 
ties in refreshing of poore indigent per- 
sons, to have a vigilant eigh to good 
ordre, and rule of his house, and the 



a Angl. Sacr. i. 362, 364, 375. ii. 287. 
b Eadmer, 142, 3. c Lyndw. 202. 

<l Strutt's Dresses, i. p. 125. 
e Gougb's Sepulchr. Mon. vol. i. Introd. clxxxvi. 
1 XV. Script. 241. * Hutchinson's Dur- 

ham, i. 31. h Reg. Bened. c. 65, 



flock to him commytted in God/ 5 i 
But both the duties and virtues of a 
good Abbot, in an appropriate view, 
will be amply shown by the following 
character of William Abbot of St. Al- 
ban^s : " Whenever he returned from a 
journey, he had all the poor brought to 
the gate to receive refection. Every 
day he attended the duties of the Chap- 
ter and the greater Mass ; present 
even on private days, he stimulated the 
others by his spirited chanting ; and 
on the greater and simple feasts came 
to Vespers, and to Complin daily. He 
assisted indefatigably at Mattins of 
twelve lessons, by reading the lesson, 
singing the response, beginning Te 
Deum, standing with those who stood 
according to their turns, and animating 
the whole Choir by his example. He 
was always present mitred in the midst 
of the Choir at the Mass of Comme- 
moration of the Blessed Virgin, and 
on principal feasts always celebrated 
the Mass at the great Altar. On the 
double feasts he held the Choir in his 
Mitre, and on other days, standing in 
his stall, led the band, and sang the 
whole service with spirit. When the 
Convent was in copes, or albs, he sang 
his response in the Mass, at the nod of 
the Chanter. He always attended the 
unction of the sick, not far from his 
stall, about the middle of the Choir, 
and performed the funeral service in 
his own person. He never professed 
a novice but at the great Altar ; at- 
tended all processions (especially those 
of Sundays), and never anticipated the 
hour when the Convent was wont to 
eat. k He lent effectual aid to the fa- 
bric of the Church, and its buildings 
and ornaments. He studied books, 
preached in the Chapter, 1 and was 

* MS". Cott. Cleop. E. IV. f. 33. b. 
* k See Watt's Gl. M. Paris, in v. Nona, and 
Econ. Monast. Life, p. 7. 

1 Samson, Abbot of Edmundsbury, used to preach 
English to the people in the Norfolk dialect, where 
he was born and bred, for which purpose he had a 
pulpit in the Church. Reyn. Append. 143. In 
the receipts, &c. of the Priory of Huntingdon : 
" Item, for our master's costes in Huntingdon 2 
Sondays in Lenton after the sermons to drinke 
with the parishioners." Nichols's Manners and 
Expenses of Antient Times, p. 292. Of this else- 
where. 



ABBOT, ABBESS, 



105 



kind to the writers and their masters. 
Both in doubtful ordinances of the 
rule, and in divine services, he took 
the previous advice of his Convent, 
and even instructed the old, and re- 
moved their doubts. He was always 
the first speaker upon arduous busi- 
ness, and an efficacious assistant re- 
specting the wine, and other matters 
concerning him ; and he was either the 
donor of it, or a brisk and faithful 
principal agent of procuring it. a 

This Abbot was plainly a Monk in 
se ; but in most others, Monachism was 
the mere graft of a profession upon a 
common man, as will appear from their 
vices, detailed in the inquiries which 
the visitors of Henry VIII. were ap- 
pointed to make. To prevent the ef- 
fects of commiseration in the public 
mind, every article was insidiously con- 
trived to have its existence in fact, or 
to imply the breach of a Canon. The 
inquiries were, — Whether the Abbot 
fulfilled the injunctions of the last vi- 
sitation — Whether lawfully elect — 
Whether simoniacally — Whether born 
in wedlock — Whether of sufficient li- 
terature to instruct the brethren — 
Whether of good living and fame — 
Whether he had the companie of any 
suspect person, and what woman was 
most in his companie — What was his 
character in the neighbourhood b — 
Whether he preached the word of God 
sincerely at the time and places con- 
venient — Whether he came to divine 
service daily and nightly, as bound to 
do — Whether he caused the statutes 
of the house to be declared to the 
brethren — Whether he himself kept 
them — Whether he looked into their 
being kept by others c — Whether of 

a Et dator , vel principalis auctor alacer et devotus. 
M. Paris, 1064. He provided it for feasts. Id. 1008.. 

b In MS. Harl. 913, f. 4. b. MS. Ashmol. 1519, 
fol. 23. MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. are numerous 
passages concerning the debauchery of Abbots, but 
omitted here on account of their indelicacy. The 
Abbot of Fountains is described thus by the visitors ; 
" Pleas it your mastershippe to understand, that 
the Abbot of Fontans hath so gretely dilapidated 

his howse, -wasted the woddys, defamed 

a toto populo, &c." MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. 
f. 114. 

c Prelates were remarkably negligent. Reyn. 
Append. 195. 



temporal wisdom and prudence — 
Whether he spent the revenues of the 
house ydelly, d or in vaine, as in dysing,e 
hun tinge/ tavern e haunting,? promoting 
his kynne, n purchasing lands, costly 
bancketing, kepyng many ydell ser- 
vaunts, riding furthe to oft to the 



d In courtliness, prodigality, or liberality. Reyn. 
Append. 16*8. There was a bull at St. Aug. Can- 
terb. that they should not be compelled to pay 
debts, unless contracted for the use of the house. 
Chrom August. Cant. "As for the Abbot of 
Bury, we found nothing suspect as touching his 
living, but it was detected that he laye moche forth 
in his granges ; that he delited moche in playing at 
dice and cards, and therein spent moche money, 
and in buylding for his pleasure ; he did not 
preache openly. Also that he converted divers 
farmes into copyholds, whereof poor men doth 
complayne. Also he seemethtobe addict to suche 
suspicious ceremonies, as hathe been used hereto- 
fore." Cotton. MS. ut supra, 120, b. At S. 
August. Cant, the Monks obtained a bull, that the 
Abbot should not devote the revenues of the sacrist 
and almonry elsewhere without the knowledge of the 
Chapter. Chron. Aug. Cant. Similar restrictions at- 
tended the kitchen (see § Cook) ; for there are com- 
plaints " of insufficient bread, not of corn or other 
grain;" " de pane insufficient!, non de frumento 
et aliis granis." MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519, 126. 

e The Abbot of Welbeck is accused of spend- 
ing the whole day and night in games " tabularum 
et aliorum ludorum,'' draughts, and other sports. 
MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519, 286. "Tesseras qua- 
tere," (to shake the dice) says Malmsbury of the 
Norman Monks, 118. 

1 30 Edw. I. an agreement was made between 
Lord Berkeley and the Abbot of Kingswoode, that 
the latter should not hunt, nor bring bows, arrows, 
cross-bows, nor other engines, or dogs, on the ma- 
nor of VVotton. Smith's Lives of the Berkeley 
Family, MS. 210. The furniture of a Prior's ma- 
nor is described to have consisted of carpenter's 
and agriculturer's tools, partridge and lark nets, 
purses with counters,* a glass of steel gilt, and 
fox nets with bellis to take foxes. MS. Harl. 
604, fol. 104, a. William de Clowne, Abbot of 
Leicester, who died 1377, was so intimate with the 
king, that he asked permission in jest to have fairs 
for buying and selling greyhounds and dogs of any 
kind. Tbe king, thinking him in earnest, granted 
his request, but the Abbot was unwilling to urge 
it. In hare-hunting he was the most famous of all 
the noblity ; so that the king himself, his son Ed- 
ward, and many noblemen, were retained to hunt 
with him under an annual pension. Knighton, 
col. 2631. Hunting was a science. Dallaway's 
Herald. Inq. 161. 

s See § Monks and Nuns. 

h The foundation-charter of Waltharn orders 
that no relative of the Abbot shall have the steward- 
ship or other office. Monast. ii. 15. v. Mantissa. 



* Which the Monks used to cast accounts with. 
See Pinkerton and Snelling. 



106 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



, manors, &c."a — Whether 
there were dilapidations b —Whether 
hospitality was kept, especially to the 
poore, c or els for pompe, pride, and 
mayntenaunce of his own will— Whe- 
ther he kept up the doles and anniver- 
saries — Whether he kept a reckoning 
of his administration d — Whether he 
had sold or alienated the conventual 
property . e (Other items to a like pur- 
port) — Whether he was sober and 
modest of his wordes and conversa- 
tion/ as well towards the brethren as 
without s — Whether he had punished 
or menaced any of his brethren for de- 
nouncing or proffering to denounce any 
thing against him h — Whether he had 
made a covenant with any of his brethren 
to conceal any fault in him » — Whether 
he kept a schoolmaster for the Novices, 
&c. k — Whether he found of the breth- 

a The general chapter held at Northampt. 1225, 
and 1444, allows them to be absent only for three 
months ; and Wolsey's decretals for the Augusti- 
nians but for one. Reyn. Append. 116, 17, 19, 
and 167. Monast. ii. 568. 

b " Resedincet claustrum suum," let him rebuild 
his Cloister. MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519, p. 33, 34, 
et passim. 

c See Almonry. 

d He was not bound to this if his revenues 
were separate from the Conventual. Lyndw. 204. 
c H. Abbot of Buildewas, finding his mother 
distressed with a large family, granted a certain 
relative " a certain service, with livery and wages 
for his life.'' Monast. ii. 915. 

f Sub quo mundi climate, sub quo mundi signo, 
Est Abbas vel Pontifex pectore benigno. 
Under what climate of the world or zone, 
Are Priests or Abbots with kind bosoms known. 
MS. Harl. 978. See too § Cells and Chapter. 

k Piers Ploughman says of a religious : 
And but if hys knave knele that shal hys cope 

brynge 
He loured on him, and ask who taught him 
curtcsic 

f. 50. Ed. Crowley, 2d of 3, 2d Ed. 
h Thus MS. Harl. 913, f. 10. 
Tunc exinde tu cavebis, 
Malum loqui sic tacebis, 
Prselatorem non spernebis. 
Juxta tuum regulam. 

See § Prison, 
i. e. And if I tell any tales they taken hem together, 
And do me fast Fridayes to bred and to water. 
Piers Plowm. fob xxiii. 
' Juramentis si qua de tacenda veritate Abbas 
extorserit relaxatis (the oaths which the Abbot 
may have extorted to conceal the truth being dis- 
solved.) MS. Bibl. Reg. 8, F. ix. (no pages.) 

k Ut Juniores insequantur Grammaticam satis ; 
that the younger may sufficiently follow their gram- 
mar. MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519, p. 37, a. See 
Cap. Monks and Nuns, § Ignorance. 



ren at the University 1 — Whether there 
be any vertues of holy write kepte or 
observed in this house, and whether 
ther ought any such to bee by the fun- 
dacion, ordinaunce, or custom of this 
house— Whether he provided sufficient 
necessaries for the house and sick — 
Whether he took any Novices for mo- 
ney, friendship, affection, before suffi- 
cient age, or enticed or compelled 
them against their free will m — Whether 
he distributed offices for money, friend- 
ship, or favour 11 — Whether he made 
the officers give in accounts yearly and 
quarterly — Whether there was any 
faire, market, or pedler's shop, kept 
within the precincts of the house, or 
at the Church door on Sundays or ho- 
lidays by his sufferance p — Whether 
the doors were shut, and the keys 
brought to him every night 1 — how 
much money he spent at his table and 
chamber. r 

M. Paris gives regularly the faults of 
each Abbot of St. Alban's. Wulsig, 
the third Abbot, changed his dress 
both in shape and colour ; used silk 
ones ; hunted much ; was choice in his 
table ; courted the favour of great 
persons ; invited vast numbers of wo- 
men of rank to dine with him in the 
house ; married his female relatives to 
great persons at much expence, and 
enriched others with the conventual 
property. Wulnoth, the fourth, besides 
hunting, spent much upon jesters and 
similar persons. [There is a civil law 
MS. in Pembroke College Library, 
Oxon, which mentions Abbots spend- 
ing half their incomes upon players and 
prostitutes.] Eaclfrith, the fifth, was 
always in his chamber, seldom in the 
Cloister, never in the Choir. Paid, 
the fourteenth, was careless of the 
conventual property, and, as did his 

1 See § Novices. m See id. n See § Obe- 
dientiaries. ° See Parlour. 

p Trades were not to be carried on in the 
Churches, unless at fair-times. M. Par. 1096. 
The Monks were very fond of fairs, see id. 724, 
and kept shops at them. Wart. Hist. Engl. Poetry, 
i. p. 280. 

n Fuller's Ch. Hist. § vi. p. 291. The Prior, 
or other officer, had them, as will appear by and 

by. 

r MS. Harl. 791, f. 18, 19, v. Mantissa. 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



107 



successor, enriched his kindred with it. 
Geffrey, the sixteenth, besides neglect- 
ing and alienating it, portioned his 
sister with one of the manors. Ralph, 
the sevententh, besides carelessness of 
the conventual property, persecuted 
his Prior with inexorable hatred. Ro- 
bert, the eighteenth, alienated part of 
the estates without consent of the 
Convent, and wheedled the latter into 
the grant of others. Symon, the nine- 
teenth, ran his Convent into debt ; and 
cut down the woods to enrich his re- 
latives. Robert, the twentieth, fol- 
lowed his own will exclusively ; perse- 
cuted and dispersed for this purpose 
the senior part of the Convent; exalted 
the Novices ; relaxed the rule to gain fa- 
vour with the effeminate ; and cut down 
the woods, for which purpose he had an 
office, where twenty timber-merchants 
were more or less every Saturday in the 
habits of coming to deal ; and this 
money was raised, not for erecting edi- 
fices for the Convent, but to gain fa- 
vour with the king and queen by pre- 
sents, and to spend lavishly. Those 
who blamed him he sent to remote 
cells. John, the twenty-first, sent the 
Monks obnoxious to him from cell to 
cell, or rather, during his infirmity, his 
parasites in his name; and enriched 
his relatives with the Ecclesiastical 
property. William, the twenty- second, 
was complained of for associating with 
Seculars in preference to his Monks. 
Besides these, they used to turn out 
the Divines the Bishops had settled in 
Churches/ and employ the Monks on 
out-door business.^ 

The inquiries concerning Abbesses, 
omitting the items similar to those of 
Abbots, were, whether she saw divine 
service duly performed: whether all 
ornaments and necessaries appertain- 
ing thereto were duly kept and repair- 

a Sim. Dunelm. 253. 

b Prsecipimus fratribus tarn senioribus quam 
junioribus quod ad exteriora officia non deputeutur. 
We order that neither seniors nor juniors be sent 
on out-door offices. MS. Ashm. 1519, f. 65, b. 
See too Chaucer in the Shipman's Tale. 

c To do divine service duly nythe and daye. In- 
junct. to the Nuns of St. Helen's. Monast. ii. 
895. 



ed— Whether the ladies resorted to di- 
vine service at the proper seasons — 
Whether she taught her sisters the 
rule — Whether she overlooked them, 
and set them to work in some honest 
exercise, and hearing the divine ser- 
vices — Whether she punished and cor- 
rected them charitably and impartially d 
— Whether there was convenient ke- 
pyng and sustentacion for the sick e — 
Whether suspected of incontinency, 
and with whom — Whether used to 
lye at the grange, or to walk abroad, 
and with what company — Whether she 
found any " auncyent, sadd, and ver- 
tuous " woman, as mistress of the No- 
vices f — Whether the word of God was 
preached to the sisters, and how often 
in the year — Whether the Confessor 
or Chaplain did his duty, and how 
many of them there were }s 

It seems that Abbots of piety, while 
in their last sickness, used to be car- 
ried into the Chapter to receive disci- 
plines, or to absolve and be absolved 
by the Monks * in the following form : 
"Wherefore I seek absolution from 
you, as much as appertains to you, 
and benediction, and I absolve you 
from obedience to me, and give you my 
benediction."* The last Abbot of Per- 
shore appears only as a simple Monk 
upon his tomb, perhaps from this vo- 
luntary humiliation. k 



abbot's officers, and offices. 

The office of the Chaplain was, it 
seems, to receive at the Bowcer's hands 
all such sums of money as were pay- 

d See Nuns, § Quarrelling. 

e Also we enjoyne you, Prioresse, that ye kepe 
yowre dortour, and lye therein by nythe, &c. 
Monast. ii. 895. ; and again " to ordeyne a conve- 
nient place of furmarye, where the seeke sustres 
might be honestly kepte and relieved." Ibid. 

1 A good teacher of the sustres to be kept. Ibid. 

s MS. Harl. 791, f. 20, b. 

h W. Malmsb. M. Paris, &c. 
1 Quamobrcm peto a vobis absolucionem, quan- 
tum ad vos pertinet, et benedictionem, et ego vos 
absolvo a cura mea, et do vobis benedictionem 
meam. MS. Bodl. Fairfax, 17, § Lamentatio 
Gervasii Abbatis. Of their burials, see § Infir- 
mary. 

k Gough's Sepulchr. Monuin. Introd. i. civ. 



108 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



able by him to the Lord Prior's -use for 
his maintenance, the expence of his 
whole household, and other necessa- 
ries. He was to provide apparel for 
the Lord Prior, and to see all things in 
good order in the hall, and the furni- 
ture for his table to be sweet and 
clean ; and that every man executed 
his office diligently as he ought to do ; 
and that no debate or strife should be 
within the house. He had in his cus- 
tody all the Lord Prior's plate and 
treasure, as well for delivering it out, 
as receiving it again. He was also to 
discharge and pay all the gentlemen, 
yeomen, and all other the servants and 
officers of the Lord Prior's house their 
wages, and to discharge all other debts 
of the house whatsoever. His cham- 
ber was adjoining to the Prior's cham- 
ber : a for he never slept in the Dor- 
mitory, but in the absence of the Ab- 
bot; of whom, as stated above, he 
was to be a constant spy. Part of 
the service in the Abbot's chamber at 
midnight was said by the Chaplains 
by heart, without a candle, a small 
lamp only shining through a glass 
window. b " He was to attend to every 
conventual service when unoccupied, 
as well as to take his turn in the 
weekly service of the Mass." c The 
principal Chaplain, from carrying the 
Abbot's seal, was called Portitor Si- 
gilli. 6 - If the Abbot had two Chap- 
lains, to comply with the constitution, 
which, that he might have more wit- 
nesses of his good life in case of scan- 
dal, 6 enjoined an annual change of 
them, he needed only change one ; and 
where the Abbey was not exempt, the 
Bishop could make the requisite change 
for a reasonable cause/ His privi- 
lege of sleeping out of the Dorter was 
not peculiar to him ; for, says a com- 
plaint, £i Ther be certeyn officers, bro- 
clurs of the howse, whiche have all 
way be attendant upon the Abbot, as 

a Davies, &c. b M. Par. 1042. 

c Capellani Abbatis debent ebdomadarii ecclesiae, 
et omni servitio conventus, cum expediti fuerint 
interesse, Abbate absente in Dormitorio iacere. 
MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 184, a. 

d M. Paris. e Reyn. App. 117. 

f Lyndw. S0G. 



his Chaplyn, Steward, Celerer, and on 
or two officers more, if they shulde 
be bounde to the first two articles 
(dining in the Miserecord, and sleep- 
ing in the Dormitory), it shulde much 
disappoynt the order of the house/'s 
A council of Paris, held in 1212, or- 
dered Abbots not to have irreligious 
Chaplains. 11 The Chaplains were also 
called Monitores, because they inform- 
ed the Abbot of every thing done by 
the Monks. 1 

At Abingdon there were two Monks 
to ease the Abbot, the Proctor and Cu- 
riarius. k The former was to manage 
his revenues. The latter was to have 
the whole care of the house, and always 
admit visitors, whose arrival was to be 
announced to him by the porter, ac- 
cording to the difference of their rank. 
He was also to pay particular atten- 
tion to the parents of the Monks (who 
were to announce their arrival to him 
only), coming from other parts. 1 

Because the care of souls was a su- 
perior object to all temporal concerns, 111 
the council of Mentz forbad Abbots to 
appear in secular causes without the 
consent of the Bishop, and enjoined 
them to appoint advocates or agents, 
an office which several Canons per- 
mitted a religious person, with the 
consent of his Abbot, to undertake. 11 
Accordingly we find them appointing 
their Monks attorneys. Several sta- 
tutes exist, allowing the privilege of 
appointing attorneys to Abbots/ and 
also their credentials.*! 

s MS. Cott. Cleop. E. IV. f. 39. 

h C. iv. apud Labbe. i Du Cange, v. Bajulus. 

k MS. Cott. Claud, B. vi. f. 187, b. 

1 Curiario incumbit ut curarn totius curiae agat, 
hospites admittat usque secundum personarum dif- 
ferentias, in adventu hospitis janitor indicabit cu- 
riario. Parentibus Monachorum aliunde venienti- 
bus summa cura a curiario impendetur. Et paren- 
tum adventus per monachos ei et non alteri indica- 
bitur. Id. 187, b. 188, b. 

m Bened. Reg. 24. n Dev. Vie Mon. ii. 47, 8. 

X. Script, col. 2078. 
, p 9 H.VI. c. 10. 15 H. VI. c. 7. 

i Attornatum nostrum ad sectas hundredi tui 
pro nobis faciendas. Alberto de D. Domino Se- 
nescallo et ballivis hundredi, &c. MS. Harl. 209. 
fol. 11 ; but it seems, that the Abbot's consent was 
not alone sufficient. Faciet abbas attornatum in 
praedicta loquelaquemcunquevoluerit coram aliquo 
qui ad hoc habeat potestatem per breve regis. 
Rot. Pari. 6 Ed. I. No. 34. Vol. I. 



ABBOT, ABBESS. 



109 



The meaner officers appear to have 
been the Barber, who had 105. per 
yere wages ; a the Cook, who used to 
ride sometime before them, when on 
journeys, to prepare refreshment for 
them, b and was allowed a horse ; c the 
Porters at different gates ; d and doubt- 
less others for other necessities ; for it 
seems, that their number was so great, 
that the houses, after their decease, 
were burdened with an indefinite ex- 
pence, on account of their wages, on 
which account it was enacted that they 
should receive fixed and annual sti- 
pends.e 

Though we hear of Abbots going 
out to sport with servants, carrying 
bows and arrows/ yet while the at- 
tendants of Laymen carried bugles, it 
was deemed indecent for an Abbot's 
servant to blow a horn,s however com- 
mon. 

The great Hall, which was ascended 
by numerous steps, was at St. Alban's 
adorned with tapestry , h at Gloucester 
with portraits of the kings of England 
in fresco ;* and the furniture of such a 
place appears to have consisted of 
four fixed tables, four forms, one table 
with two tressels at the high bench, a 
cupboard, a chair, a chaffer . k The Study, 
or Library, was adorned with curious 
painted imageries and divers inscrip- 
tions.! There was a Gallery, Chapel, 
and another ; a Fish-house for dry and 
salted fish ; a Brew-house, and Kitch- 

a Nichols, ut sup. 288. b M. Par. 1032. 

c Monast. i. p. 7. d Davies, &c. e Cap. 

Gen. Northampt. a 1225. f Angl. Sacr. i. 511. 

« Du Cange, v. Coreizare. h Rous, p. 64. 

1 Dallaway's Herald. Inq. 116. k Steevens's 
Monast. i. 487. l Chauncey's Hertfortshire, 445. 



en. m Their Chapels were not only for 
prayer, but celebration ; n and Matthew 
Paris mentions an Abbot sleeping in 
his chamber with his Chaplains, while 
the Monks were at Mattins, and the 
Chaplains awaking to perform divine 
service ;° but the Chapel and Oratory 
were distinct apartments, the latter 
being an annexation.? It is well known 
that the nobility had what were called 
Secret houses, whither they retired at 
certain seasons to religious privacy, and 
declined society ;<i in like manner Wul- 
stan had an Oratory between his hall 
and private house, known only to his 
domesticks, where he secluded him- 
self, especially in Lent, from morning 
after Mass, till dinner, or the time of 
the hours. 1 " Gundulf had a little Ora- 
tory attached to each of his manerial 
habitations, where his Chamberlain 
used to put his prayer-book for his re- 
ligious exercises, during the interval 
between Mass and the hours. s 

Ethelwulf, speaking of an Abbot of 
Lindisfarn, says, that while the Monks 
were asleep at night, he was singing 
psalms and hymns. 1 

At Canterbury, over the Prions 
Chapel, was a Library for the use of 
the studious ; and next to his cham- 
berwas a tower called the Prior's Study, 
it being the fashion to study in towers . u 

Abbesses had a maid, x besides as- 
sistant Nuns, called DiscretceJ 

m Steevens's Moaasticon, i. 448. 

n Lyndw. 234. ° P. 1042. p Angl. 

Sacr. i. 148. i Paston Letters, &c. r Angl. 
Sacr. ii. 262. s Id., 282. * Du Cange, v. 

Odare. u Angl. Sacr. i. 145. See § Church. 

x Id. i. 364. 7 Du Cange. 






110 



MONASTIC OFFICEBB, 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OBEDIENTIARIES. 



These were all officers under the 
Abbot ; to be appointed to which, inter- 
est was made, to a great degree, as 
well as to be kept in them, and have 
out-door employment ; a and they were 
often conferred by the Abbot for fa- 
vour or money . b The consequence was, 
that very unfit persons were appointed ; 
for, says Nigell. Wireker, 

Istud contingit in religione frequenter, 
Quod major servit, proficiturque minor, 
Digna sub indignis vivunt ; quod rosa saluncis 
Lilia sub tribulis. 

Spec. Stultor. MS. Cott. Tit. A. 20. 
This evil too oft in religion we have, 
The worse is a ruler, the better a slave — 
The worthy to unworthy subject ; as grow 
The rose and the lily wild brambles below. 

Walter Mapes says, " that the Monks 
were parasites and flatterers of the 
Abbot, soothing his ears with honied 
words, deceiving those above them with 
cunning, making presents to their infe- 
riors, and granting every thing the 
Abbot asked, however impossible ; such 
men, he says, in whose hearts were 
found deceit and guile, with honey in 
their mouths, were the persons who 
were chosen to offices. They preten- 
ded to be simple and modest in the 
eyes of their brethren, till they gained 
their purpose, and then it was 'Hold 
your tongues, wretches/ to the Monks, 
you know nothing ; we will govern the 
house ; to which harsh language they 
were in the habits of contemptuously 
adding Thee and Thou. c Without 
doubt, continues Walter Mapes, some 
of the brothers are prudent, modest, 
and moral, but find no favour with the 
Abbot, because they cannot flatter . d 



Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1444. c. v. 

Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1225. ]VL Par. 1096. 

Cap. G. North, a 1444. c. x. De Novitiis. 

En adulatio plena fallaciis, 

Nares prselati lambentes ambiunt, 

Verbis et mellitis aures reficiunt, 

Procaci superos fallunt hastucia. 

Inferioribus prcebent munuscula, 



Among the Nuns it was enjoined that 
"no sisters be admitted to any office, 
unless of good fame/' e 

It is not to be admired that the 
Monks were so ambitious of office ; for, 
says an old song : 

Altera prsepositis, altera regula nobis : 
Nos infelices vini nescimus odorem, 
Propositi vinum, nos digeramus acetum ; 
Nos extra claustrum prohibemur figere gressum, 
Et dominis camera? licet ad sua tecta redire ; 
Fit rogus in medio, celebrantur et orgia Baccho? 
Siccantur cuppse, spumanti nectare plense. 

MS. Cott. Vitell. A. xii. 129. a. 
One law for our rulers, another for us— 
To us wretches the smell ev'n of wine is unknown, 
The vinegar's ours — the wine all their own — 
Not a peg from the cloister must we dare to roam, 
"While the lords of a dwelling withdraw to their home. 
To a smoking good fire then sit themselves down, 
And with nectar of Heaven their blest moments 
crown. 

It seems, a that they were dishonest 
persons, who were guilty, to a bare- 
faced degree, of illicit and fraudulent 
practices ; exercised prohibited and un- 
just trades; oppressed people with 
violence or unfair exactions, or made 
their servants do so ; frequented taverns 
and other indecorous places ; had the 
company of women in private places, 
and to eat and drink with them in cham- 
bers within the precincts of their Mo- 
nastery or Priory, and carried bows, 
swords, and arms; took persons in, 
in buying and selling ; borrowed money 
(for which abuse they were limited to 



Abbas si proferet impossibilia 
Blandis sermonibus concedunt omnia. 
Cor dolo plenum est ; os profert dulcia, 
Jacent in animo fraus et fallacia, 
Hi tales digni sunt obediential. 
Fingunt se simplices fratrum conspectibus, 
Set mutant animum susceptis clavibus, 
" Tacete miseri" dicunt claustralibus, 
Vos nichil sapitis — nos domum regemus — 
Set procul dubio quidam de fratribus, 
Prudentes, simplices, ornati moribus, 
Omnia non vacant adulationibus, 
Non habent gratiam coram pastoribus. 
MS. Cott. Vespas. A. xviii. 168, b. 169. a. 
and Tit. A. 20. 161, 
Monast. ii. 895. 



OBEDIENTIARIES. 



Ill 



100s.) ; pretended to be engaged in 
offices, when it was tlieir duty to attend 
in the Church ; kept a vast number of 
servants, and rode out to the manors, 
and staid there when they liked with- 
out a companion,* 1 obtained letters of 
confirmation not to be removed, and 
offices or profession in many houses. b 
The inquiries of the visitors respecting 
them were, "how many officers, and 
what their portion — how many tables 
kept or ought to be kept — what allowed 
to each of the officers for this purpose 
— whether any of the said officers be 
in debt or arrears — whether they give 
in accounts yearly, or quarterly, as 
bound to do — whether they have spent 
or pawned any jewels, plate, &c. belong- 
ing to their offices — how many of them 

a Precipimus ut semper se honeste habeant, 
prsesertim in conspectu populi, ab illicitis et dolo- 
sis contractionibus omnino abstineant ; mercimonia 
prohibita vel inhonesta non exerceant. Nullum vi 
aut injustis exactionibus opprimant, seu a minis- 
tris operam faciant ; tabernas vel alia loca inhonesta 
intrare non praasumant ; consortia mulierum in 
omni loco penitus evitent, in cameris, vel locis 
privatis infra septa monasterii vel prioratus non 
comedant vel bibant. Inhibemus et ipsis obedien- 
tiariis et quibuscumque aliis fratribus nostris ne 
arcum (See Lysons's Env. Lond. i. 343,) gladium 
(See Fuller's Ch. Hist. b. vi. 285.) seu qusecumque 
arma ubique sine nostra speciali licentia tenere 
prsesumant. MS. Cott. Claud. E. IV. f. 245. a. 
In empcionibus aut vendicionibus et aliis contrac- 
tibus nullum studeant decipere. Nullusque obe- 
dientiarius nostri monasterii cujuscumque fuerit 
status, pecuniam ultra summam centum solidorum 
absque nostra spec, licent. mutuo recipere prsesu- 
mat. Ibid. Quia monachi — quibus officia forin- 
seca et intrinseca committuntur, fingunt, cum pos- 
sent et debent in cboro divinis officiis interesse, in 
officiis forinsecis et commissis multociens occu- 
pari. MS. Harl. 328. p. 5. b. Thus too among 
the Nuns. " Thus done oft tymes suche remowers 
about, yat mow not long rest in the silence of the 
Cloister, and in comune praieries of the quere, but 
they starte aboute from one office to another, and 
whan the belle ringith to houres than thei begynne 
first to occupy them in her offices." MS. Bodl. 
Laud, D. 52. Alii preterea provecciores, certis 
officiis deputati, ad maneria et loca alia equitant 
quum placet, ibidem manentes nullo commonacho 
itineris in socium assignato. Familiares questum- 
que quos monachi officiarii et alii, in numero ex- 
cessivo retinent. MS. Harl. 328. p. 5. p. 10. 

b M. Paris, 1096, 8, Cap. G. Northampt. a 
1444. c. v. 



are removable — how many not — whe- 
ther they rode forth over-sumptuously 
with a grete number of men and horses 
— whether they lye in granges abroad 
very oft at will, and indulge in banquet- 
ting, and women resorte to them?" c 

When they were extremely sick, they 
were to give in their accounts and 
resign, because if they died unexpec- 
tedly, the Monks used to steal the 
Ecclesiastical property/ 1 They were 
not excused from Collation and Com- 
plin, but from imperious necessity, and 
then with the Abbot's leave. e Certain 
constitutions ordered them not to give 
or receive any thing without leave of 
the Superior — denounced frauds on the 
conventual property — the false imposi- 
tion of crimes upon others — confede- 
racy to overthrow emendatory statutes 
— private persecution from hatred 
or ambition, and personal property/ 
They were bound to find the students 
going to Oxford their travelling money, 
and lend them their horses,^ which 
animals they kept, it seems, beyond 
what was necessary for office. 11 The 
subordinate officers among the Clugni- 
acs were only persons sent from abroad 
to collect money. 1 

The Priors of cells, and chief Offi- 
cers, were called Master Obedientiaries)^ 

The Monks observed sometimes a 
gradation in their promotions, with 
a view to the improvement of the 
officer. 1 



c MS. Harl. 791, f. 21. 

d Cap. North, ut sup. The Abbot might restore 
them, when well. Ibid. e M. Par. 1095. 

f Id. 1096. e C. North, a 1444. c. v. 

h Nee aliquis obedientiarius equum in stabulo 
teneat, ni eum pro administratione sui officii equum 
habere oporteat. MS. Cott. Jul. D. 2. p. 160. 

1 Reyn. Append. 147. — Certain of these officers 
were allowed gloves and Christmas stockings. Isti 
debent habere glove-silver contra autumpnum, 
Prior, hostilarius exterior, &c. Isti debent habere 
Christmesse stocke3 contra natale Domini, Wel- 
lelmus le Wodward, &c. MS. Harl. 1005, p. 53. 
They also invited friends to dinner. W. Thorne, 
c. 36, sect. 1, div. 3. 

k Angl. Sacr. i. 753. l Ibid. ii. 246. 



112 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PRIOR. 



In the Rule of Pachomius, a disputa- 
tion (i. e. scriptural lecture) is orderd 
to be made three times a week by the 
Propositi Domorum,* for every Monas- 
tery of the East had Patres or Abbots, 
Stewards, Hebdomadaries, Ministers, 
and Propositi Domormn, or Gover- 
nors of houses, because those large 
Abbeys consisted of numerous houses, 
each containing 30 or 40 Monks, under 
one of these Propositi ; and from these 
Propositi descended the Prior and 
Sub-Prior (Secundus in the Rule of 
Pachomius) terms only known from the 
Pontificate of Celestine the Fifth, b A 
1294. This officer was next only to 
the Abbot, and had the first place in 
the Choir, Chapter, and Refectory. 
He was censed after the Abbot, could 
depose malversant officers, and could 
call at pleasure a chapter of the ser- 
vants, and punish delinquents. He 
had a Chaplain, two servants, two pal- 
freys, a baggage -horse, and two others, 
at Edmondsbury. d At St. Albany's, 
says M. Paris, they were provided by 
the Convent with an apartment, horses, 
retinue, and equipage. e 

The greater Prior represented the 
Abbot, and performed all his offices, 
except making or deposing Obedienti- 
aries, and consecrating Novices. Whe- 
ther the Abbot was present, or absent, 
he struck the cymbalum, beat the table 
for work, and monitum in the Dormi- 
tory, as well as corrected the faults of 
the readers in the Church and Chapter. 
The Claustral Prior was his Vicar, and 
remained always in the Cloister/ 

a Du Cange, v. Disputatio. 

b Du Cange, v. Propositus. Prior. 

c Deer. Lanfr. sect. De Priore. 

d Ad stabulum Prioris habet Prior quinque equos, 
vid. Prioris capellanus duos palefridos et summa- 
rium, qui est tertius. Item duobus armigeris duos 
equos. Lib. Alb. Edm. de Burgo. MS. Harl. 
1005, fol. 44. 

'■ M. Paris, 1094, 1144. 

f Du Cange, v. Prior. 



His privileges and offices at Abing- 
don were these:* He had one man, 



* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 179, 189, seq. 
Prior babebit unum bominem, ad corrodium in aula, 
et prsebendam ad unum equum. Licitum est 
Priori equos babere, sed Abbas eosdem equos in 
negotiis suis potuit accipere. Sob Priori licet in 
scola puerorum sedere, per scolam transire, lecti- 
onem audire, capitulum tenere, et eos csedere 
excepta magistrorum admissione. Licet Priori 
omnibus boris canonicis sedere. Priore capitulum 
intrante omnes in supremo gradustantes, sineincli- 
natione ei assurgent, priusquam sedit nullus sedebit. 
Si Abbas in transmarinis, vel in nimium remotis 
partibus fuerit, Prior secundum modum culpae 
extendet disciplinam in carcere, vel in gravioribus 
culpis, excepta ecclesiee suae quantulacumque abali- 
enatione, et caputii abscissione. Quando ecclesia 
pastore vacaverit licet Priori aliquem monacbari. 
Licet Priori cuilibet maturo moribus licentiam dare 
uno die ire eodemque redire, et instantia neces- 
sitatis transigere spatium unius noctis. Prior 
nusquam proficiscetur sine uno vel duobus mona- 
cbis. Licet Priori ad consistorium sedenti celle- 
rario semel vel bis cipbum pro impletione mittere, 
nee cellerarius renuere debet. Si Prior in ordine 
suo discubuerit unus puerorum sibi ministrabit. 
Non Priori, nee alii alicui in ordine suo sedenti, 
licet cipbum cum operculo. Si clerici vel laici in 
refectorio discubuerint ob consolationem eorum 
Prior remanebit. Prior post conventum cum cle- 
ricis vel laicis remanens, quos de conventu, unum, 
vel duos, vel tres evocare voluerit, vocabit. Prior 
ad bostium claustri apponet caputium capiti, 
idemptidem omnes alii. Sicque Prior, et omnes alii 
a, processione non declinaturi procedent usque ad 
Dormitorium, quo secessum naturse sunt petituri. 
In reditu suo Prior ante lectum suum morose sede- 
bit, donee major pars conventus discubuerit. 
Prior primo faciet scrutinium ad locutorium bos- 
pitum ; si bospites defuerint, nisi gratiam monacbis 
quos ibi inveniet conferre voluerit, ostia obserabit. 
Si hospites praesentes fuerint, cum clavibus per- 
transibit ad monasterium, et in cboro, etin circuitu 
cbori, et si bostia bac aut ilia reserata fuerint, ut 
videat quid agatur, faciat scrutinium postmodum 
ad locutorium, &c. Si aliqui de claustriloquio 
egrediuntur ut in loquutorio loquantur, magna est 
ordinis transgressio ; ne aliquo ingruente negocio, 
si claustriloquio defuerunt quam plurimi, licet 
Exploratori eos prosequi. Exploratori incumbit 
explorationem facere, quociens viderit expedire. 
Abbate, vel Priore, in claustro prsesente, si Sub- 
prior, vel tertius Prior, in locutorio loquuntur, nee 
ipsi Exploratori verbo indicaverint, aut signo signi- 
ficaverint, se liceat loqui, clamabunt. Si Priori in 
loquutorio loquatur Explorator eo viro pertransibit, 
sic Sub-prior et tertius Prior, nee illi qui cum illo 
sunt, clamabuntur. Ac Exploratori explorationem 
facienti licet signa facere ; sed nusquam si aliquis 
Priorum prsesens fuerit sine licentia loqui. Prior 



PRIOR, 



113 



who had a corrody in the hall, and 
maintenance for a horse. He was also 
allowed horses, but the Abbot might 
take them for his own business. He 
only could sit in the school of the 



qui in ordine erit, si in locutorio loquatur, licet 
Exploratori signum non fuei-it, non clamabitur. 
Prior debet cum primis primus esse, cum ultimis 
ultimus, &c. In tabula positus ministrabit. In 
festis quse celebrantur in cappis, si Prior terciam 
cantaverit, post terciam cantatam stola amota, si 
processio fuerit, cappam induet, et in ordine suo 
iticedet. Licet Priori ad matutinas, si in cboro 
fuerit, alium rogare de officio suo vice sua minis - 
trare. Ubivis Prior venerit in loquutorio, vel 
promptuario, vel ubi licitum fuit Monacbo loqui, 
omnes assuvgent ei, etiam collaterales Abbati. 
Priore in cboro prgesente, nulli licet inter eum in 
formam transire. Prior pro voto suo clamorem in 
prsesentiam abbatis differret, sed interventu Con- 
ventus Prior potuit reclamare commissum secun- 
dum modum culpae per se emendare. Priori licet 
Monachum sentential subdere se : a cibo potuque 
abstinentiam, lanternam, custodiam, ultimamque 
positionem, ignorante Abbate ; sed sentential car- 
ceris, vel gravioris culpee, nullum potuit subjicere 
Abbate domi prsesidente, sed res referetur ad 
Abbatem, et pro voto suo frater illse sententise 
subdetur. Abbate praesente Prior potest compe- 
tenter clamari. Abbate peregre profecto, &c. non 
licet Priori, nisi ad succurrendum aliquem in 
monacbatum admittere ; nisi pro magno commodo 
ecclesise. Priore in locutorio, vel alibi scrutinium 
faciente, omnes loquentes assurgent, et dicent, 
quod se ipsius licentia loqui. — Prior in ordine suo 
sedens, si sonum fecerit, vel potum fudit ad pran- 
dium, puer ei ministrans, ne aliquid malum impu- 
nitum videtur, pro ilia, offensa ante consistorium 
veniam accipiet. Si prior cum servitoribus discu- 
buerit in ordine suo, cum illo quern secum discum- 
bere voluerit, discumbet, nee licentiam discumbendi 
a sedente ad consistorium accipiet. Quociens 
aliquis abbas ad prandium sederit ad consistorium, 
si dies jejunii fuerit, per vesperas ad potum prior si 
prsesens fuerit in refectorio pulsabit signum. Prior 
pro voto suo ante lectum suum morabitur ; post- 
modum de dormitorio egredietur, quo egresso 
donee servitores discubuerint quo voluntas eum 
direxit ibit. Post servitorum refectionem prior 
faciet explorationem, et ostia loquutoriorum obse- 
rabit. Postmodum gratia et licentia prioris de 
meridiana remanebunt, cum priori ipsi ; et omnes 
alii ad meridianam ibunt. Si hospites cum servi- 
toribus discubuerint, gracia prioris per refectionem 
sine excessu ; et minuti etiam remanebunt. Prior 
si expeditus fuerit ad completorium erit. Prior 
post completorium scrutinium faciet cum lucis 
appositione, et in sestate et in bieme lucubrum feret. 
Item quociens fuerit necesse lucubrum feret cum 
lucis appositione. — Priore absente ad lectum prioris 
qui fuerit in ordine. Hoc tantum licet prioribus 
post completorium, identidem ad meridianam. 
Si prior morbo laboraverit in infirmitorio recumbet 
et discumbet ex consuetudine set alibi gratia. 
Intuitu enim auctoritatis ipsius ipsi est condescen- 
dum, et ab omnibus deferendum. Si prior infirma- 
tus, aliquis minister notus et in ecclesia educatus 
pro voto suo, preeter ministros inlirmitorii priori 



Novices, pass through the school, hear 
their lessons, hold a chapter of them, 
and beat them, but could not appoint 
the masters. He could sit at all the 
canonical hours, [his stall was at the 
entrance of the Choir, opposite the 
Abbot's.] When he entered the Chap- 
ter, the Monks standing on the upper 
step,? rose to him without bowing, and 
did not sit down before him. When 
the Abbot was abroad, or very far off, 
the Prior, according to the fault, could 
extend the discipline to the prison, 
or greater punishment, amoved from 
the Church and deprivation excepted. 
When the Abbacy was vacant, he could 
profess Monks. He could give licence 
to any Monk of good character to go 
out and return on the same day ; and, 
upon the pressure of necessity, to 
exceed the space of a night. He could 
go nowhere without one or two Monks ; 
the Abbot found him his expences, 
and licence was not to be denied him. 
When he sat at the table he could send 
his cup to the Cellarer to be filled once 
or twice, and that officer was not to 
deny him. When he sat professedly 
in office, one of the Novices was to 
attend him. He was not allowed, nor 
any other, to have a cup with a cover. 
If clerks, or laymen, dined in the Refec- 
tory, he was to stay for the sake of the 
company, and to ask two or three of 
the Monks to do so besides, those 



ministrabit. Omnia enim respicienda ad ordinem 
debent referre ad priorem et disponi qui fuerit in 
ordine. f. 192 a. Ad potum per vesperas cum prior 
vidit conventum competenter transisse, semel cum 
manu percutiet tintinnabulum, et post ilium ictum 
nullus praesumat intrare ad potum. Postmodum 
prior sollicite circumspiciat, ut videat conventum 
perbibisse, et cipbos reposuisse. Deinde trina 
percussione in tintinnabulo facta, de consistorio se 
eriget, et ante tercium ictum nullus de tabula 
surget, sed post tercium ictum omnes. Identidem 
fiet ad potum post collationem, et ad potum post 
nonam, benedictione dicta, antequam aliquis prae- 
sumat bibere, semel debet tintinnabulum tangere, 
et postmodum omnes licenter potum baurire. 
Si quis fratrum abbatis prrecepto sententiee cibi aut 
potus subditus per biduum, vel triduum, aut per 
majus spacium, prior, si ad consistorium discubuerit, 
ilium fratrem illo die pro voto suo it sentential 
relaxabit, postero die frater ille sententiam reitera- 
bit, et a sententia non relaxabitur, donee in capi- 
tulo absolvatur, ut sententia compleatur. f. 192 b. 
k Suppidaneis. Dec. Lanfr. 



114 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



whom he chose. After Complin,, he 
was to put his hood on at the gate of 
the Cloister, as were all the others; 
and thus they were to proceed in 
procession to the Dormitory ; the Prior 
sitting upon his bed some time, till the 
greater part of the house were in bed. 
He was to make his search first at the 
guests' parlour; if there were none, 
unless he wished to oblige the Monks, 
whom he found there, he was to lock 
the doors. If there were visitors, he 
was to pass by with the keys to the 
Church, to see what was done in the 
Choir and circuit of it ; and if such and 
such gates were unlocked ; and after- 
wards make a search at the locutory. 
If any left the Cloister-conversation to 
talk in the parlour, it was a great breach 
of the Order; if in urgent business 
there were but few at the Cloister-con- 
versation, the searcher might follow 
them. It was the duty of the Explo- 
rator to make a search whenever it 
seemed proper. a When the Abbot or 
Prior was present in the Cloister, if 
the Sub-prior or third Prior were talk- 
ing in the Cloister, and did not sug- 
gest to the Exploratory by a word, 



a The Egyptian Monks had an officer, similar 
to the Circa, or Circator, who went round the 
cells of the Monks silently, and listened outside for 
the detection of abuses. Du Cange, v. Circa. 

b In the Anglo-Saxon and Norman institutes, 
there was a peculiar officer, called the Circa, or 
Circuitor. His duty was to search the whole house, 
and to proclaim the abuses in the Chapter of the 
next day ; to which also he was to bring any books 
or vestments he found in the Cloister, and to put 
the lantern before a Monk who was asleep during 
the lesson ; which Monk, when awake, was to 
beg pardon kneeling, take the lantern, and go 
round the Choir. In the Norman sera (just before 
Mattins was his proper time for scrutiny), he was 
never to speak, but make a complaint in the Chap- 
ter of the next day. Those whom he found sleep- 
ing in the Dormitory, he just made a sound 
sufficient to awake. His complaints were made 
first in the Chapter, after the Venice, or voluntary 
solicitations of pardon for offences. The Gilbertine 
Nuns had also Scrutatrices. The duties of the 
Circa or Circator, were to go round the house at 
the hours when the Monks were engaged in read- 
ing ; to the officer, to notice the abuses of the lay- 
brothers ; to the Cloister if any Monk should be 
idle ; to the Dormitory to wake the Monks, or any 
where, to collect the Monks for the canonical 
hours, for which he rang the signum. In the 
Rule of S. Victor he is ordered to be chosen from 
the most religious, zealous, and impartial Monks ; 



or a sign, that they had leave so to do, 
they were to be accused in Chapter. 
If the Explorator spoke to the Prior 
in the parlour, he was to pass by that 
person, and thus the Sub-prior, and 
third Prior, and those that were with 
him, would not be accused in Chapter. 
When this officer was making his 
search, he was allowed to make signs, 
but not to speak any where without 
leave, if any one of the Priors was 
present. The Prior on duty, if he 
spoke in the parlour without making a 
sign to the Explorator, was not to be 
accused. The Prior was to be first in 
rank with the first, and last with the 
last : if absent from Mattins, by disease 
or otherwise, he was to celebrate at the 
lectern of the guests. On the days of 
Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, if 
the Abbot was absent or unable, he 
was to be put in the table, and cele- 
brate. In the feasts celebrated in 
cappa, if the Prior sang thirds, he was 
to put off the stole, when the service 
was over ; and if there was a procession, 
put on his robe, and walk in his rank. 
He could ask another to officiate in 
his stead, when he was him self at Mat- 
tins. Whenever he came to the par- 
lour, or store-room, or wherever the 
Monks were allowed to speak, all were 
to rise to him, even the Abbot's officers. d 
When he was in the Choir, no one was 
to pass by him to the form. If any 
contention arose in the Chapter, he 
could (at option) defer the accusation 
till the Abbot was present ; but if the 
Convent interfered, he could claim 
cognizance of it himself. He could 



and was to visit all the offices, and note breaches of 
duty. He was to take his walk in so silent and 
solemn a manner, as to strike terror in the specta- 
tors ; but not to speak, or make a sign to any one. 
He made his circuit at all times, except during 
Chapter and Collation, when the doors of the Clois- 
ter were locked. It was his especial duty to see 
that no Monk was absent from the hours, or spoke, 
where and when he ought not. Du Cange, v. 
Circa, Circator. 

c A board, where the names of the ebdomada- 
ries, who were to officiate during the week, were 
set down. See sect. Church. 

d Any where out of the Cloister or Choir ; when 
he wished to sit in the former, those only near 
him. Dec. Lanfr. 



PRIOR. 



115 



subject a Monk to the penance of fast- 
ing, carrying the lantern, custody, and 
last rank, without the Abbot's know- 
ledge: but he could subject no one to the 
sentence of imprisonment, or severer 
punishment, when the Abbot was at 
home ; but the matter was to be refer- 
red to him, and the Monk be punished 
with that sentence according to his 
award. When the Abbot was present, 
the Prior could be accused. When 
the Abbot went abroad, the Prior 
could not, unless for succour's sake, 
admit any one a Monk, and then with 
advantage to the Church. If the Sub- 
prior held the Chapter, the Prior was 
not to enter, unless asked, or from 
urgent necessity.* When the Prior 
nade a search in the parlour, or else- 
where, all who were talking were to 
rise, and say that they talked by his 
leave. b If the Prior sitting on duty 
made a noise, or spilt the drink at 
dinner, the Novice that waited on him, 
lest any evil should seem to be unpun- 
ished, was to receive pardon for that 
offence before his seat. If the Prior 
on duty dined with the servants, he 
might sit with him whom he chose 
should be that person ; nor was he to 
receive licence of doing so from the 
president of the table. When any 
Abbot sat at dinner at the high desk, 
if it was a fast day, the Prior at the 
drinking during Vespers was to strike 
the bell in the Refectory. If he found 
a journey troublesome, he could send 
the Sub-prior, and release him then 
from all his offices. After dinner, 
when the Convent went to the Dormi- 
tory, he Was to sit before his bed until 
the rest were laid down. There he 
was to sit as long as he liked, and 
afterwards go away where he chose, till 
the servants had dined. After this, he 
was to make a search and lock the 
doors of the parlours. Those who had 
licence from the Prior were to stay 
with him, and be absent from the 
meridian • but all the others were to go 
to sleep. The Prior, if disengaged, 



a Decret. Lanfr. sect. De Priore. 
b Ibid. sect. De Circuitoribus. 



was to be at Complin, after which he 
was to make a search with a lantern, 
which he was to carry both in winter 
and summer, at that time, and every 
other, when necessary. Whoever locked 
the gates was to carry the keys to the 
Prior's bed, and in his absence to that 
of the Prior on duty. To search the 
Dormitory was allowed only to Priors 
after Complin, and at the Meridian, or 
sleep at noon. At the drinking during 
Vespers, when the Prior saw the Con- 
vent had sufficiently drunk, he was to 
strike the bell with his hand once, and 
after that no one was to presume to 
enter. Afterwards he was carefully to 
look round and see whether the Con- 
vent had all drunk, and put the cups 
by. Afterwards, at a triple blow of 
the bell, he was to rise from his seat, 
and all the Convent with him, but not 
before. The same was to be done at 
the drinking after collation, and after 
Nones ; when the benediction was 
given, he was to strike the bell once, 
and then and not before, the Monks 
were to drink. If any Monk, by the 
Abbot's order, was penanced with fast- 
ing for two or three days, or longer, 
the Prior, if he dined at the head of 
the table, might on that day relax the 
sentence : but, on the next day, it was 
to be renewed, and there was no 
further remission, till he was absolved 
in chapter, in order that the sentence 
might be executed. 

If the Prior was sick, he was to lodge 
and dine in the Infirmary from custom, 
but elsewhere by favour; for respect 
was to be paid to him by all, on 
account of his authority. Any servant, 
known and brought up in the Church, 
whom he chose, was, except the com- 
mon servants of the Infirmary, to wait 
upon him ; and all things, respecting 
the Order, to be referred to the Prior 
on duty. Notwithstanding these regu- 
lations, it seems, that they affected to 
be second Abbots, and did not look 
much after the Cloister and care of the 
Order. c 

The Sab-prior's chamber, says Da- 



Reyn. Append. 198. 



I 2 



116 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



vies, was over the Dormitory door, 
that he might hear if any stirred or 
went out. His office was to go every 
night as a private watch before and 
after midnight to every Monk's cham- 
ber door, and to call upon him by 
name, to see if any were wanting, or 
stolen out in pursuit of any unlawful 
business. The Sub-prior also sat 
always among the Monks at meat, to 
see that every man behaved himself 
according to the Order he had betaken 
himself to. He always said grace at 
dinner and supper, and, after five 
o^clock at night, was to see all the 
doors locked : as the cellar-door, the 
frater-house door, the Fawden-gates, a 
and the Cloister doors. He kept the 
keys of these doors all night till five in 
the morning, and then returned them 
to the porters and other proper officers. 

The Sub-prior (in Abbeys) had the 
same power and privileges as the major 
Prior in his absence. When the Abbot 
was also away, he could permit the 
sick to retire to the Infirmary, and, if 
necessary, eat meat. The visitation 
of the Infirmary was his peculiar care ; 
and, like the Prior, he could punish 
the servants, but not add to, or turn 
them away. Every day after Complin, 
having received the holy water with 
the others from the hebdomadary, he 
was to stand, while the Convent pass- 
ed, to notice those who walked irreve- 
rently, and without their hoods on. 
After this, he took a lantern, and 
searched the whole house. b 

At Abingdon he was elected by the 
Abbot and choice of the Prior and 
more sage of the Convent. At the 
four days of Christmas, Easter, or 
Pentecost/ when the Abbot or Prior 
was absent, he was to take his place. 
If he himself was absent, the Chan- 
tor. He was to search the Dormitory 
before Mattins. Before the Chapter 
he was to observe the gates of the 
Locutory and other gates. If the 



a Falb, A. S. a sheepfold, stable, a bishop's 
stall ; viderint Dunelmenses. 

b Deer. Lanfr. Sect. De Priore. 

c The reader will recollect Trinity Sunday in- 
cluded in the Pentecost Terra. 



Prior held the Chapter, he was to 
sound the bell in his stead. d 

Dean was the old appellation of 
Prior f for to every ten Monks there 
was a Prior. f Instances appear where 
the Deans were actual Sub-priors in 
office.^ " The rule ordered them to 
be selected from the best that could be 
found ; " h and the licence for absence 
from Chapter was to be had from 
them. 1 In Nunneries, says B. Fox, 
" If the covent be great, we woll that 
certeyne of the susters of good proufe 
and holy conversacion be made 
Deanes ; " k with whom agrees the 
Anglo-Saxon rule of Bennet, adding 
that they were " to divide the burden 
with the Abbess. ' n The Prior and 
Deans were called Guardians of the 
Orderamongthe Cistertians; m but these 
Monks had this peculiarity : a Monk 
who presided pro tempore over a 
particular study or office, was not to 
be called Prior, but Provisor, and 
every where out of his office was to 
stand in the right Choir, directly after 
the Abbot. n 

P7*ioresses. Among the Gilbertine 
Nuns there were three Prioresses, one 
of which presided in turn, and had 
then the first stall, one of her coadju- 
| tors standing on the right hand, the 
I other on the left. The presiding Pri- 
j oress held the Chapter, enjoined the 
j penances, granted all the licences or 
allowances, visited the sick, or caused 
them to be visited by one of her com- 
panions. She had obedience and res- 
pect paid to her by all. She could 



d Cimbam vice sua pulsabit. MS. Cott. Claud, 
b. vi. 192. b. e Du Cange, v. Decanus. 

f Wilkins's Concil. ii. 719. " Decanum et 
monachos quoscunque ad custodiam manerii et 
ecclesiae (de Leominstre cellse abbatise de Reading) 
deputatos :" (Monast. Angl. i. 25.) I render, 
" The Prior and Monks deputed to the custody of 
the manor and church,'' &c. 

s Du Cange, v. Norma. 

h Nam jubet regula decanos fieri, de melioribus 
quipossunt eligi. MS. Cott. Vesp. A. xtiii. 169. 
a. Reyner, 120. 

1 Cap. gen. Northampt. a 1444. c. 3. 

k R. of S. Benn. for the Mynchins or Nuns, b. 1. 
1516, c. 21. 

1 Abbatissse partiantur onera. MS. Bodl. Ar- 
chiv. Seld. D. 52. (no pages). 

m Du Cange, v. Custos. n Id. v. Provisor. 



PRIOR. 



117 



not depose the Sub-prioress or Cel- 
laress without consulting the gene- 
ral Prior. The food was distributed 
by the Cellaress, but the vestments of 
the Nuns cut, sewed, and divided by 
the Prioresses. No Prioress could sit | 
near any man in their houses, without 
some discreet sister sat between ; nor 
elsewhere, if it could be conveniently 
avoided. She could send the Sub- 
prioress into the Infirmary, to take 
the Venice, if she was herself engaged. 
The Prioress was to endeavour to visit 
the Nuns, unless she happened to be 
in the kitchen, or was detained by 
sickness. If any one wished to confess, 
she signified to the Prioress, if she was 
in the Cloister or Church, or confessed 
to her or any person she ordered. On 
holidays, she sent some learned Nun 
with a book to her sisters, to teach 
them somewhat of the profit of the 
soul, and rigour of the Order. She 
herself presided over the Chapter of 
the sisters, and one of her coadjutors 
often took their Venice in the evening 
Chapter. On festival days she visited 
them if she had time, and diligently 
inquired of their Order and religion. 
If she left the Dormitory after dinner, 
or after Complin, she did not go out 
without Nuns. She was obliged to 
indicate the cause of her departure to 
the Prior of all. If she left the Church 
through sickness, she confessed in the 
Chapter, and no one stood in her stall, 
except at Mass, and necessity required 
it. If she was in the kitchen, she 



could take the venice of others in her 
scapulary. When she was serving in 
the kitchen, and made a mistake in the 
Refectory, she begged her pardon there. 
She was to shun conferring with the 
scrutatrices (or visitors) of another 
house, deputed to her, or to make 
search of any thing, except in the 
common Chapter. If she was in the 
Infirmary, she was to conduct herself 
more reservedly^ and not speak with 
more together than two, and that in a 
bounded place, unless perhaps neces- 
sity compelled her to talk with more 
for the sake of consultation, or when 
she happened to hold the chapter of the 
sick. She could upon great necessity, 
hold the Chapter of the Convent, and 
receive confessions. If she was con- 
fined by extreme illness, she could, like 
the rest, talk in bed. 

Sub-prioress. She could not become 
Prioress, unless the Prior of all, or 
Scrutatrices, judged it necessary. She 
could not enter the chamber of the 
Novitiates to take their venice, unless 
called by a sign from their mistress. 
If in the absence of the Prioresses she 
spoke of any thing, except of labour, 
she confessed having done so in the 
Chapter. If it happened that another 
spoke in the absence of the Prioress, 
the Sub-Prioress notwithstanding took 
the venice in the Chapter and out of it. 
But she could not go to the gate of the 
window without a sage companions 

a Monast. Anglic, ii. 760, 1, 



118 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER X. 



CELLARER. 



This officer, who was to be the father 
of the whole society, had the care of 
every thing relating to the food of the 
Monks, and vessels of the cellar, 
kitchen, and refectory. He was to he 
careful of the healthy, but especially of 
the sick. He was to do nothing of 
greater moment, without the advice 
of the Abbot or Prior. He was to ask 
the Chantor some days before, when 
his sentence of the Rule was read in 
the Chapter, and then to solicit abso- 
lution, and make a handsome refection 
for the Monks, which, if the sentence 
of the Rule fell upon an improper day, 
was deferred by leave of the Prior and 
Chapter to another.** He was allowed 
absence from Masses, Completory, 
and all the hours, except Mattins, Ves- 
pers, and Prime. He was to be present 
at the great Mass upon feast 
till the Gospel was read; also 



days, 
every 



day in Lent, till the verses of the 
offertory were sung. He was to weigh 
the bread daily, and in collecting the 
spoons after dinner he was to carry 
the Abbot's in his right hand, and the 
rest in his left. But if there were two 
or more Abbots at the high table, one 
of the Brothers, invited by the Refec- 
tioner, and attending on the left hand 
with the spoons, was to take the spoons 
of the Abbots in his right hand, and 
collect the rest, with the assistance of 
the spoon-officer, in his left. He was 
to wait upon the Visitors, Minuti, and 
Monks returning from journeys. He 
was to take care that no one sat down 
before the Abbot or Prior, and, when 
any one asked for bread and beer in 
reason, was to give it to him. b At 



B Dec. Lanfr. sect, de Cellerario. 

b MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 201, b. Si autem 
fuerunt duo, vel plures abbates ad consistorium 
discumbentes, unus fratrum a refectorario rogatus 
leva parte de cochlearibus ministrans abbatum 
cochlearia dextra manu feret, csetera autem coch- 



Edmundsbury he held his court of 
thieves and robbers; and had power 
over the highways, so that no one 
could dig chalk or clay without his 
leave. He or his agents had the pre- 
emption of all food for the use of the 
Convent if the Abbot was not at home. c 
There was sometimes a Cellarer for 
in-door business, and another for 
out-door . d Davies says, " His office 
was to see how much was expended in 
the kitchen, both for the Prior's table, 
the whole Convent, and for all stran- 
gers that came. It was his office also 
to see all things orderly served, and 
in due time. His chamber was in 
the Dorter." e 

The Cellaress was to see, when she 
came into her office, what was owing 
to it by different farmers and rent- 
gatherers; to receive certain sums 
yearly of the different collectors on the 
Nunnery estates; to take account of 
all the ox-hides, inwards of them, 
tallow, and every mess of beef sold ; 
to charge herself with the hay sold at 
any farm belonging to her office ; to 
purvey all the provision for the house, 
and pay certain offerings, wages, and 
gifts ; to hire pasture for her oxen, and 
attend to the mowing and making 
of hay, and repairs of building/ 

The Cellaress of the Gilbertine Nuns 
was not to talk in private with the 
yearly visitors from another house, 
nor with any other concerning any 

learia cum cocleatorio manu sinistra colliget. 202. 
b. Cellerarius vigilanter provideat ne ante recu- 
bitum abbatis, vel prioris, aliquis recubet. Id. 201. 
b. Nulli panem et cervisiam consideranter petenti 
, debet renuere. Id. 201. b.— The keys of the cola- 
torium or strainer, for straining the beer, were also 
in his custody. Ibid. 

c Monast. i. 300. <* M. Par. 1096, et alii. 

e A secular performed this office at Winchester, 
but was removed by William of Wickham. MS. 
Harl. 328. 

f Monast. i. 80, 83. For the reason of the 
agricultural direction of her office, see sect. Nuns. 



CELLARER. 



119 



Canon or Nun (de aliquo vel aliqua), 
that the visitors might hear ; nor serve 
in the kitchen, where the Sub-cellaress 
was to take her place. She was to 
have a Lay-sister associated with her 
to help her, with whom she might talk 
of necessaries openly in the cellar. In 
the cellar, however, no one was to 
speak except the Prioress and Cellar- 
ess, and Fenestraria, or Window-por- 
teress, Lay-sister of the Hostrey, that 
of the kitchen, and the assistant of 
the Cellaress. The Cellaress was not 
to speak in the Infirmary of the Lay- 



sisters sitting; and a fault of this kind 
was to be examined. The bread of 
the sick and the whole society was to 
be distributed according to her direc- 
tion. All the food was too in her 
disposal, and no one but the Prioress 
had besides any controul over it. When 
she left the Dormitory, after dinner or 
complin, and broke silence, she was to 
declare the cause of both in the Chap- 
ter £*nor was to go out without more 
Nuns. a 

. a Monast. ii. 761. 



120 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER XL 



PRECENTOR; OR CHANTOR. 



The office of Precentor was one of 
those which could only be filled by a 
Monk who had been educated in the 
Monastery from a child. 8 He was 
only to be set down in the table to the 
lesson and responsory in the Abbotts 
absence, in order that he might then 
take his place. He was to correct all 
mistakes in the choral service, which 
was entirely at his disposal, to distri- 
bute the robes at festivals, and to 
make the tables of the Monks for 
divine service. No one was to leave 
the Choir before Mass was over with- 
out his leave. His place was in the 
middle of the Choir, and on the right 
side. He was censed next to the 
Abbot and Prior. He began the chant 
firsts and was followed by the right 
Choir. In all principal feasts which 
fell on Sundays, he was put into the 
table of office, with two others whom 
he chose. On Sundays, and festivals 
of that kind, another held the Choir, 
and made a sign to the Chantor when 
he began the verse of the offering, 
which salutation was returned by a 
bow ; and, upon the beginning of every 
verse, he and all the children bowed. 
In times of manual labour; he either 
read or showed the master of the 
Novices where the children were to 
begin reading. He notified to the 
Abbot all the chants which he sang or 
began. b 

At Abingdon he was elected by the 
Abbot, Prior; and Convent. *It was 



* Du Cange, v. Nutriti. 

b Deer. Lanfr. sect. De Cantore. 

* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 193. seq. Officium 
cantoris est officio cantandi et legendi omnes ex- 
amussim docere etinstruere, primo abbatem, deinde 
priorem, postmodum omnes alios. Si quis de 
accentu, aut pronuntiatione, aut alio modo hesita- 
verit, cantor illud dubiuin certificabit. Si abbas 
morbo prseoccupatus matutiuis interesse non pessit, 
per capelhnum suum cantori mandabit, et cantor 
postmodum officium abbatis procurabit, In pro- 



his office to teach all the Monks to 
sing and read, to the most exact degree, 
first the Abbot, afterwards the Prior, 
and then all the others. If any one 
hesitated respecting an accent or pro- 
nunciation, or any thing else, the 
Chantor was to rectify that doubt. 
[The officiating Monks were accus- 
tomed to rehearse the services, and 
receive the key, &c. from the Precen- 
tor] . c When the Abbot was diseased, 
and could not be present at Mattins, 
his Chaplain notified it to the Chantor, 

cessionibus in monasterio abbas nichil incipiet, 
nisi cantor prsesignaverit. Cantor a nullo officio 
ebdomadario liber erit. Si abbas prsesens fuerit 
monitu cantoris incipiet ; et si abbas expeditus non 
fuerit, et in festis quos abbas non incipit, cantor 
succedet. Cantor negligentes in choro corripiet — 
quando alicui innuet ut cantet, frater illi inclinare 
debet. Cantori licet, sine reprehensione horis 
canonicis et ad missas libros inspicere, exceptis 
libris ad officium missse assignatis. Quociens 
cantor chorum tenuerit quoddam excepto communi 
de coquina habebit. In festis quae celebrantur in 
cappis aliquis fratrum monitu cantoris bacula festiv. 
in chorum deferet, et cantor concantoribus distri- 
buet. Quisquis tabulam scripserit cantor ante capi- 
tulum providebit. A diebus fratrum anniversariis 
lector martirologii monitu cantoris prout cantor 
disposuerit, dispositionem in capitulo pronuntiabit. 
In precipuis anniversariis triduo ante pronuntia- 
tionem cantor cellerario et coquinario intimabit 
[the same with the Abbot's anniversaries]. Si 
quis ad missam sederit, monitu cantoris surgens 
inclinabit. A depositione alicujus fratris nomen 
ispsius in martyrologio providentia cantoris debet 
inscribi. Arciva cantori debent assignari, per 
cantorem eleemosynario tradi. In omnibus festis 
in quibus processio fuerit cantor processionem 
ordinabit, et ad ostium chori socium socio parifi- 
cabit pro ordinatione processionis monachos de 
choro in chorum transponet. Qua; ad proces- 
sionem sunt ferenda, monitu cantoris ferentur. 
Cantoris dispositione annuee disponenter rasturse. 
Si quis morbe preeoccupatus licentia capituli infir- 
mitorium adierit, de quocunque ebdomadarius fue- 
rit cantor procurabit ; idemptidem procurabit, si 
quis quoque cum benedictione ierit, 194. b. Can- 
tor pro transgressione mendacii et negligentia in 
choro officii, puerorum aures eriget, capillos disti- 
net, manu csedet. Cantor almaria puerorum juve- 
num et alia in quibus libri conventus reponuntur, 
innovabit, fracta praeparabit, pannos librorum 
bibliothecse repperiet, fracturas librorum reficiet, 
193. b. 
c J)\x Cange, Yi 4^9Gultar€i 



PRECENTOR, OR CHANTOR. 



121 



and he made provision for supplying 
his place. In the processions in the 
Monastery, the Abbot was to do 
nothing unless forewarned by the Chan- 
tor. The Chantor was free from no 
weekly office. When the iVbbot was 
present, he began at the warning of the 
Chantor ; and if the Abbot was en- 
gaged, the Chantor took his place, as 
well as in festivals, which that prelate 
had not begun. He reproved the 
negligent in the choral service, and 
when he nodded to any one to sing, 
that Monk was to bow to him. He 
could inspect the books at the canoni- 
cal hours and Masses, those only 
excepted assigned to the office of the 
Mass. As often as he held the Choir, 
he had an allowance beyond the com- 
mons of the house. On the feasts of 
Copes, some Monk, by his direction, 
brought the festival staves into the 
Choir, and he distributed them to his 
fellow- chantor s. Before the Chapter 
he made provision of the person to 
write the table. Upon the anniver- 
saries of the Monks, the reader of the 
martyrology, by his direction, pro- 
nounced in the Chapter how he had 
arranged matters. On the principal 
anniversaries (and those of Abbots) he 
intimated the arrangement to the Cel- 
larer and Kitchener three days before 
the annunciation. If any one sat at 
Mass, he rose and bowed at the direc- 
tion of the Chantor. At the decease 
of a Monk, his name, by the provision 
of this officer, was registered in the 
martyrology or obituary. The archives 
belonged to him, and were delivered 
by him to the Almoner. a In all the 
feasts in which there was procession, 
he arranged the procession and paired 
the Monks at the door of the Choir ; 
and also transposed the Monks from 
Choir to Choir. Every thing borne 
at the procession was under his direc- 
tion. The annual rastura *> were dis- 
posed by him. If any sick Monk, by 
leave of the Chapter, went to the 



ft To make out the brevia from. See Almoner. 

b Rastura, in the Gilbertine rule, is the shaving of 

the head ; but rasura, in Du Cange, is. bread raspings. 



Infirmary, he provided who should be 
Ebdomadary; and, in the same man- 
ner, when any one went out with bene- 
diction, or for a time. He could lug 
the ears of the boys, pull their hair, 
and chastise with his hand, the Novices 
who told lies, and were negligent in 
the Choir. He mended the presses or 
almonries of the Novices, youths, and 
others, where the Convent books were 
deposited, repaired them, and found 
cloths for the library books, and repair- 
ed their damages. 

During service the Precentor held in 
his hand a kind of musical instrument 
I made of bone, called tabula. In a will, 
I dated 837, they are called singing tabu-. 
: Ice, prepared (ornamented) with gold 
| and silver. Amalarius says, he holds 
| them in his hands as a substitute for 
I organs, without any necessity of read- 
, ing, that he may represent that of 
the Psalmist, "They shall praise his 
name in the Choir with timbrel and 
psalter."^ Among the classical an- 
! cients, the Coryphseus, or leader of the 
| band, not only beat time with his foot 
I and the scaltilla, or crupezia, but with 
| the hand also, putting the fingers of the 
! right hand upon the hollow of the left, 
j for which purpose they sometimes used 
i oyster-shells, the shells of other fish, 
I as well as the bones of animals , e &c. 
The roll of parchment now used, is 
merely a copy of the Contacium, a stick 
with several skins rolled round it, con- 
taining the offices to be recited by the 
Priest. f Some accounts say, that the 
Precentor held a silver staff while the 
service was performed, which was 
taken, says Honorius, from the staff 
held by the Israelites, who, eating the 
Paschal lamb, travelled to their coun- 
try.s 

* The Subchantor was to be elected 
by the choice and request of the Chan- 
tor, whose place he was to fill. The 
keys of the lockers, where the yearly 



c Du Cange, v. Tabula. 

d L. 3. c. 16, p. -111. 

e Burney's Hist, of Musick, i. 75. f Du Cange, 
v. Contacium. e Id. v. Baculari Cantorum. 

* Succentor. Dispositione pnccentoris et peti- 
tions succentor congtitu^r. Claves almariorum 



122 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



books and singing books were locked 
up, were to be in his custody. By the 
constitutions of Walter de Wickwane, 
Abbot of Winchcombe, for the govern- 
ment of the house, it was enacted, that 
no letter with the Convent seal, what- 
ever might be the emergency, should 
be carried out of the Cloister before it 
was entered by the Succentor, or a per- 
son deputed by him, in the Landbok, 
or elsewhere, as the business required. 
The Succentor or Subchantor pre- 
sided over the left Choir 5 the Chan tor 



in quibus libri annualos (sic) et libri cantus reclu- 
duntur custodise succentoris assignabuntur. 194. b. 
Et quod nulla litera sigillo conventuali (quodcun- 
que contingat) aliquando extra claustrum deferatur 
priusquam per succentorem aliumve per euro depu- 



I began, and the Subchantor answered ; 
sometimes (the Precentor having only 
that one appellation) the Succentor 
was called Chantor. a 

Precentric. When the Precentrix 
served in the Kitchen (says the Gil- 
bertine Rule), her companion had the 
key of the Book-case, which was locked 
always, except in Reading-time. She 
and her companion, in the first 
Sunday of Lent, when the Chapter was 
over, divided the books at the Prior- 
esses order. She was to provide the 
book for the Collation. b 



tatum in Landbok seu aliis locis prout negocium 
requirit scribatur. MS. Cott. Cleop. B. n. f. 225 b. 

a Du Cange, v. Prcecentura, Succentor. 

b Monast. Angl. ii. 767. 



— 



KITCHENER. 



123 



CHAPTER XIL 



KITCHENER, 



At Abingdon he was free from every 
weekly office, except the great Mass 
and the Virgin Mary's. He was never 
absent from Chapter unless engaged. 
He might leave the Dormitory before 
the bell rang, and was to visit the sick 
in the morning to see what they wanted. 
The Abbot could not, without his leave, 
contract any of the manors assigned 
to the kitchen. He sat on the left of 
the Prior at meals, and gave the licence 
to the reader as well as that of dining 
and drinking. * After dinner, on what- 
soever duty he should be, he observed 
the rank of the Prior by walking last 
after the servants. When he sat at 
the table of the servants, any Abbot 
coming thither might dine there ; and 
the Kitchener, notwithstanding, dining 
according to his duty, attended no less 
upon any of the servants with a meal, 
for change of place was not an altera- 
tion of rank. A consolatory compa- 
nion, or solatium, was allowed him. 
At dinner time he went round the ta- 
bles of the sick to see what they wanted. 
The Vacarius, or herdsman, was sub- 
ject to him. At Winchcombe it was 
ordered that the Refectioner and Kit- 
chener, for the time, should shew them- 
selves ready to deliver to the servants 
of the Minuti what was necessary, that 
they might not be obliged, on this ac- 
count, to decline the society, or com- 
mon table of their brethren . a At Eve- 



* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. p. 200, a, b. Post 
prandium cujuscunque ordinis fuerit, ordinem pri- 
ons postremo post servitores incedendo servabit. 
Cum discubuerit ad consistorium servitorum, ali- 
cpais abbas superveniens discubuerit ad consisto- 
rium : coquinarius in ordine suo discumbens non 
minus quemlibet servitorem uno ferculo visitabit, 
loci enim mutacio non est dignitatis alteratio. 

a Refectorarius autem et coquinarius qui pro tem- 
pore fuerit, sic se minutorum ministris exbibeant 
paratos, et sibi liberent quse debentur, quod non 
sit necesse cuiquam de minutis pro suis necessariis 
perquirendis a contubemio declinare. MS. Cott. 
Cleop. B. n. p. 228, 



sham he had a horse allowed him, and 
used to attend markets. 1 * It may be 
gathered from statutes, that he was 
sometimes in the habit of distressing 
the Monks, by giving them always the 
same dishes. A familiar modern says, 
the office of chief Cook in Monasteries 
was never conferred on any but such 
as had made the art their study : d and 
another, more antient, says, that they 
had Lay-cooks able to please the pa- 
late of Apicius himself. e I find that 
there were at Abingdon, besides the 
Abbot's Cook, Bo, the Cook of the 
Monks, and Am, the Cook of the house- 
hold, nicknames, or names oddly 
spelt. f 

^Elfstan, a Monk, who afterwards 
became a Bishop, was Cook at Abing- 
don. Alone, and unassisted, he cooked 
the viands, gave them out, lighted the 
fire, fetched the water, and washed the 
dishes, which, as well as the pavement, 
he kept in the cleanest stated 

Cooks. Among the Gilbertines, one 
of them was to assist the Cellaress in 
carrying bread and drink into the Re- 
fectory ; all to carry the remains of the 
pittances into the Cellar, and them- 
selves serve the Nuns at supper. They 
were to have their refection after the 
Nuns, and, as well as the servants, take 
mixtus. Q 

b Monast. Anglic, i. p. 148. 

c Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1444. c. v. De Obe- 
dientiariis. 

d Andrew's Gr. Brit. vol. i. p. 2, from Croyl* 
Hist, apud Gale. 

e Fuller's Ch. Hist. b. vi. 

f Cocus abbatis ii panes parvos, pro companagio 
iii ob. et cervisiam in aula.. Bo cocus monacho- 
rum, &c. Am cocus de familia. (MS. Cott. Claud. 
B. vi.p. 178.; I am inclined to think from the 
universality of soubriquets in my own parish and 
elsewhere, that there were formerly, notwithstand- 
ing baptism, persons who never were known by 
any other, because the family denomination was 
not sufficiently distinctive. 

s Angl. Sacr. i. 165. 

fc Monast. Anglic, ii. 761, 762. 



124 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SENESCHALL. 



This Obedientary, often a Layman 
of rank, whose office was held by fee, 
was to hold the courts, to do the Ab- 
bot's business with the king, by pay- 
ing money into the Exchequer, and 
transacting other matters of a like 
kind. a For all this he had certain very 
valuable fees, and privileges in hos- 
pitality and other respects. There ap- 
pears, however, to have been a Senes- 
chall of inferior dignity. This officer 
was to be always ready to do the Con- 
vent business with the Prior and Cel- 
larer, which was to be done out of the 
house b He was to make the presents, 
when sent to persons lodging in the 
town. When at home he was to have 
the corrody of one Monk, to carry a 
rod in his hand, and to arrange the 
matters of those who sat at table in the 
guests' hall. His annual wages were 
10/. When he rode out with the Prior 
and Cellarer beyond the gate, for the 
business of the house, he had a ser- 
vant, who attended the guests in the 
hostrey, drew beer for liveries, carried 
presents at the direction of the Cel- 
larer, and received every clay from the 
cellar bread and beer, and culinary 
fare, as persons in the hostrey. This 
Seneschall had also the Bishop's habi- 
tations in custody. d 

The following charter of the Abbey 
of Winchcombe shows the office and 
emoluments of an inferior Seneschal!, 



a Monast. i. 290,302,361. 

b Curia. e Exenia. 

d Thorpe's Custumale Roffense, p. 29. 



e As long as he continued in office, 
he was to have the same commons in 
the Hall as the Cellarer, or even the 
Abbot's Chaplain. 

His servants were to fare the same 
as other servants. 

He had provender for two horses ; 
the same allowance as for the Cellarer's 
two horses. 

He had also a robe of Clerk's cloth 
once a year, with lamb's fur, for a su- 
per-tunick, f and for a hood of budge 
fur,s and an allowance for his servant 
the same as the Cellarer's servant. 

He had also 40s. sterling every year 
at Michaelmas. 

For this he was to hold their man- 
erial courts twice a year, at least ; at- 
tend to other business, and even go 
abroad, if required, upon affairs of the 
house, in which case his expenses were 
allowed . h 



e Videl. quod habeat et percipiat quoad vivit in 
officio Senescallatus nobis deservienti de nobis et 
nostro monasterio in victualibus, sicut nostro celle- 
rario etiam capellano deservitur in aula. 

Et habeant sui garciones sicut cseteri garciones. 

Habeat insuper duos equos pro quibus habeat in 
prsebenda, sicut pro duobus equis cellerarii libera- 
tur. 

Habeat insuper robam unam de panno clerico- 
rum annis singulis cum forura agnina pro supertu- 
nica, et pro caputio de bogeto : Et pro roba unius 
garcionis, sicut garcioni cellerarii liberatur. 

Et quadraginta solidos sterlingorum annis singu- 
lis in festo S'i Michaelis percipiendos. 

f In the Norman sera, a dress like a smock-frock, 
without sleeves, worn between the tunick and gown 
(Strutt, i. 94), but varying in subsequent seras. 

s See Abbot's dress, Ch. vii. 

b Registrum parvum Abbatise de Winchcombe 
penes prsenob. Pomin. Sherborne, fol. 240. 



TREASURER; OR BURSAR. 



125 



CHAPTER XIV, 



TREASURER, OR BURSAR. 



Davies says, " His exchequer was a 
little stone house, joining upon the 
coal-garth a pertaining to the great Kit- 
chen, a little distant from the Dean's 
hall-stairs. His office was to receive 
the rents of the house, and all other 
officers of the house made their ac- 
counts to him. He discharged all the 
servants' wages, and paid all the ex- 
penses and sums of money laid out 



a A yard or fold. A. S. Seapb. 
den. Watson's Halifax, Gloss. 



Hence Gar- 



ahout any works appertaining to the 
Abbey, or that the house was charged 
withal. His chamber was in the In- 
firmary, and his meat was served from 
the great kitchen to his exchequer." 
This is all the notice I have seen of 
this officer, except a denomination of 
Capsarius in Du Cange, and Bursar 
elsewhere b , for in many houses the ex- 
terior Cellarer supplied his place. 

b Angl. Sacr. i. 767. 



126 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



CHAPTER XV. 



SACRIST OR SECRETARIUS, 



He was to uncover the Altar after 
the Gospel in feasts of twelve lesson s, 
to carry the text to the Vestiary, which 
the Priest bore, as in his robe he pro- 
ceeded every day to the Altar ; to carry 
a lantern before the Priest in his way 
from the Altar to the Lectern, and, 
after the collect, put the text upon the 
Altar, and to ring the bell, or tell others 
to do it ; for which he was to ask no 
leave, unless at Prime, or Collation, or 
at Thirds and Vespers, when the Ab- 
bot sat in the Cloister with the Monks 
conversing. He distributed the can- 
dles for the offices; took care of all 
burials; washed the chalices twice a 
week, or oftener, as necessary ; and the 
corporals a before Easter, or when ex- 
pedient, provided he was a Priest or 
Deacon, and for this he had brazen 
vessels used for nothing else, the water 
of which was thrown in the piscina, 
or, as it is otherwise and there called, 
Sacrarium. b He had the charge of 
preparing the host, and of washing the 
ampullee c for wine and water on Thurs- 
days and Sundays, which he supplied 
every day for the officiating ministers, 
and furnished the wafers to the com- 
municants. He lighted the candles 
after the collect, at the Lessons and 
Lauds ; and, if any indiscreet delay 
ensued, he lay prostrate before the 
step of penance d till a certain part of 
the service was ended, after which he 
departed without leave. The intricacy 
of this office occasioned a recommen- 



a Cloths the host was wrapped in. 

b Hist, of Hampton Poyle, by Mr. Ellis. MS. 

c Vessels to pour the wine into the chalice with. 
The ceremony of preparing the host is given at 
large in TindaVs Evesham, p. 185 ; but, though 
verbatim the same as in the Dec. Lanfr. the officer 
is there the Infirmarer. If the host happened to 
fall, an appropriate religious service was performed, 
and whatever thing it touched was cut oif and 
thrown into the Sacrarium, or Piscina (of the va- 
rious uses of which I shall speak in Sect. Church). 
Dec. Lanfr. c. ii. 

d The step where the benedictions were received ; 
but see art. Chapter, sect. Penances and Disci- 
pline. 



dation that it should be committed to 
a master and servants. e 

At Abingdon* the Sacrist was 
elected in the same manner as the 
Chantor. When unoccupied, he was 
in the order, and exempted from no 
weekly office. He had the care of the 
vestments of the Church, bells, and 
banners. He could not give, sell, or 
pawn any of the official ornaments of 
the Church, nor even pledge any small 
matter for a short time, without the 
witness of his fellows. He could not 
speak at any time with a Monk, or any 
other in the Church. As often as any 
one of the congregation of the servants, 
or persons coming from other places 
(not a respectable person) should sit or 

e Deer. Lanfr. c. 6. De Secretariis, &c. 
* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 19.5, seq. Eodem 
ordine, eadem dispositione, qua Cantor eligitur et 
instituitur, debet Secretarius eligi etinstitui. Quo- 
ciens secretarius expeditus fuerit, in ordine erit, et 
a nullo officio ebdomadarii absolutus erit. Orna- 
menta ecclesise nee aliqua sibi assignata sacrista 
dare, vendere, nee impignorare potuit, autem [aut] 
aliquod modicum, pro modico tempore, sine soci- 
orum testimonio impignorare. Non licet secre- 
tario aliquando cum monacho, aut alio aliquo loqui 
in monasterio. Quociens aliquis in congregatione 
ministrantium, vel aliunde venientium, nisi reve- 
renda fuerit persona, in conspectu conventus sede- 
rit, aut steterit, sacrista eum amovebit, excepta 
Nativ. S. Mar. Homo Sacristarii cirpum ad or- 
natum ecclesiae in dominio abbatis, et militum, et 
omnium aliorum accipiet ; non illato damno prate- 
rum aut segetum. Quociens matutinse tarn morose 
pulsantur ut collecta ad laudes possit sine apposi- 
tione candelae vidi et pronuntiari, sacrista ad preces 
ante gradum veniam accipiet ; et ibidem donee in- 
choetur collecta prostratus recumbet ; postmodum 
surgens ordinem suum adeat. Si hoc fecerit nee 
ab abbate, nee ab alio clamabitur ; sin alias moleste 
in capitulo reprehendetur. Ne via cenulenta, vel 
aquosa [fuerit] sacristalocumitineriscantoridenun- 
tiabit. — Sacrista habebit totam ceram totius ydro- 
melli in promptuarium monachorum relati : excep- 
tis xx secretariis, abbati assignatis. Licet secreta- 
rio et subsecretario jacere in monasterio, quod non 
licet aliis, nisi praecepto aut licentia abbatis vel pri- 
dris. Infra septa embrii monachorum nullum con- 
stituetur stabulum. Sacrista curabit ut urticse et 
omnes herbse eradicandse ab embrio radicitus extir- 
pentur, nee equus, aut aliquod animal in embrio 
frequentetur. Sacrista habebit de granario cotidie 
prsebendam suo palefrido. Licet secretario cum 
subsecretario unum habere solatium consolato- 



SACRIST OB SECRETARIUS, 



127 



stand in view of the Convent/ the 
Sacrist was to remove him, except on 
the nativity of the Virgin Mary. b The 
Sacrisfs man was to take rushes to 
ornament the Church, in the demesne 
of the Abbot and Knights, and all 
others, so as no damage was done to 
the meadows or corn. As often as 
Mattins were rung so late that the 
Collect at Lauds could be seen with- 
out the use of a light, the Sacrist was to 
take a small venia at prayers before the 
step ; and there lay prostrate till the 
Collect was begun ; afterwards, rising, 
he went to his place. If he did this, 
he was not to be accused in Chapter 
by the Abbot or any other ; if other- 
wise, severely reprimanded. At the 
procession of the rogations, lest the way 
should be dirty or watery, the Sacrist 
was to point out the road to the Chan- 
tor, the Chantor to the Chapter. The 
Sacrist was to have all the wax of the 
ydromel c brought into the store-house 
of the Monks, except the twenty Se- 
cretaries d assigned to the Abbot. He 
was to appoint a Subsacrist, who was 
to keep the keys in his absence ; to 
take the corn necessary for the guests, 
and to go out from the Refectory be- 
fore the Convent, to see that there was 
no negligence in the time of ringing 
the bell. The Sacrist and Subsacrist 
were to sleep in the Church, e which 
was allowed to no one else without 
the order or leave of the Abbot or 
Prior. The Sacrist was to take care 
that no nettles or weeds grew in the 
church-yard, nor horse or other ani- 
mal frequented it, or any stable be 
there. He had from the granary a 
daily allowance for his palfrey; and 

a See Church, sect. Lady-chapel. 

b This was the grand day, for an obvious mysti- 
cal reason, on which the parents of Monks used to 
visit them. See Hostrey. 

c Mead. 

d The Glossaries have been tried. The Abbot, 
&c. had a livery of wax every week. Monast. i. 298. 
I think them candles. 

e In a stall (pulpitum). X Script. 1911. 1. 14. 
The words are "lying in a stall I saw (watching 
or waking) vigilans." 



was allowed, with his deputy, a sola- 
tium, or companion. 

Besides what is here mentioned, re- 
specting the wine and candles, Davies 
adds, "His office was also to lockup every 
night the keys of every Altar in the 
Church, every Altar having its several 
almery, and some two ; to lay the said 
keys forth every morning between 
seven and eight o'clock, upon the top 
of the almery, which was of wainscot, 
wherein they were locked, which stood 
within the North quire door, that every 
Monk might take the key, and go to 
what Altar he was disposed to say 
Mass at. The Sacristan's chamber 
was in the Dorter, and he had his meat 
served from the great kitchen in his 
exchequer/' 

In the Order of St. Victor, the Sa- 
crist had a servant, called Matricula- 
rius, a poor man from the Almonry, 
who rang the bells, regulated the ho- 
rologe, wakened the Monks in the 
Dormitory, shut and opened the 
Church-doors, and answered strangers 
who knocked at the Church-door. 
He assisted the Sacrist in sweeping 
the Church, cleaning the lamps, 
and other duties. He slept in the 
Church, as did the Sacrist, and a third 
man, whom the Abbot appointed. f 

Sacrist of the Gilbertine Nuns, 
When the Sacrist rose at night to ring 
the bell, she was to have at least two 
Nuns with her, whom the Prioress as- 
signed. She was to ring the bell to 
Chapter, and all the daily hours. She 
and her companion was to adorn the 
area of the church in the Vigil of 
Easter, and the Altar after Sext. She 
was to light the lamp in the interval 
at the lessons ; to prepare the coals for 
the censor; to receive the holy-water 
at the window ; and the Pax-bord (lapi- 
dem pads), which she was to carry 
round to the Nuns and sisters, begin- 
ning always to give the Pax in the right 
Choir, whether the Prioress was pre- 
sent or absent.? 



f Du Cange, v. Matricularins. 
* Monast. Anglic, ii. 763. 



128 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



CHAPTER XVI. 



LECTURER. 



In a visitation of Hales Abbey, in the 
year 1270, the educated Monks are 
ordered to expound the Scriptures. a 
Among the mendicant religious, there 
was first in one place, and then in an- 
other, "a due exercise weekly of the 
scholars in disputation; 5 ' 13 a practice 
which originated as to the thing itself 
with Lanfranc. c The Friars Preach- 
ers too of Oxford had schools within 
their habitation, where Robert Bacon 
and Richard Fishaker read divinity- 
lectures ; d and Michael is recorded as 
a divinity-lecturer of certain Fran- 
ciscans. 6 In the fourteenth century 
Peter de Dene, Doctor of both laws, 
Canon and Prebendary in several 
Churches, was admitted a Monk not 
as others absolutely, but on condition 
of exemption from assembling with 
the Monks in Church, Chapter, Refec- 
tory, Dormitory, or Cloister, or per- 
forming any other service whatever, 
but to retain all his property, and 
reside with his family in a mansion he 
had built within the precincts of St. 
Augustine's, Canterbury/ In this state, 
and wearing the habit of the professed, 
he went where he pleased, and read 
lectures publicly for days and years on 
the canon law to Monks and Seculars. s 



a MS. Bibl. Reg. 12 E. xiv. b J. Rous, 74. 

c Malmesb. de G. Pontif. 118. p. 2. 

d Trivet, p. 193. 

e Archdall's Monast. Hybern. i. 33. 

f W. Thorne, c. 36, sect. 1, art. 2. 

s A constitution of Otho, a 1238, forbids secu- 
lar clerks, resident in abbies, to interfere in any- 
monastic concerns or offices. M. Par. 405. In- 
gulphus long before informs us of several literati, 
who would not assume the Monastic profession, 
for whom Abbot Turketil made some regulations 
in respect to the performance of divine service and 
uniformity of dress. Hist. Croyl. 500. a. Ed. 
Sav. 1599. Lodging, food, and a pension, was a 
common thing granted to secular priests, who offi- 
ciated at altars, or did other duties (H. Knighton, 
col. 2GG6), and this pension was made from the 
common alms, or other source. Cap. Gen. Nor- 
thampt. a° 1444. c. 2. De Divinis Officiis. 



The names of Athon and Lyndwood 
confer honour upon their perform- 
ances in jurisprudence; but the ordinary 
lectures of John Laurence, Monk of 
Worcester, professor of divinity, pub- 
licly read in the divinity-school in the 
years 1448-9, are fantastic, void of 
mind, and full of point. 

" In a gem, he says, is splendour, 
worth, and vigour : thus in a prince 
who governs others, ought to dwell 
the splendour of exercising virtue, the 
worth of exhibiting dignity, and the 
vigour of levying punishment. 5 ' 11 Not 
much to blame, therefore, were those 
Monks, of whom Henry Abbot of 
Warden thus complains : " Item, That 
whereas wee, by the said foundacions, 
be commanded to have dailie lecture 
of divinitie, wee have non : and when 
it is redde, fewe or non of the Monks 
com to it. Item, I did assigne Dampne 
Thomas Lomley to rede the divinitie- 
lecture, and he in discretely unknow- 
inge to me did read the boke of Cain's 
(Wickliff's) Omelies, which boke be 
all carnal, and off a brutal understand- 
ing, and entreat of many things, the 
which are anenst the determinacyon of 
the Churche of Englande; and so 
soone as I had knowledge of their 
premysses, I toke from him his said 
boke, and sent to Lomley, to be deli- 
vered to Master Doctor (Leghe one of 
Henry VIII. 's visitors), and discharged 
the said Dan Thomas of his reading, 
and cawsid mi brother to rede the 
lecture, and then fewe or none of them 
wollde com at him/' 1 

The following letter to Cromwell, 
Henry's Vicar General, explains one 

h In gemma vero est splendor, valor, et vigor. 
Sic enim in principe aliis praesidente residere debet, 
splendor virtutis exercendse, valor dignitatis exhi- 
bendse, et vigor punicionis inferendae. MS. Bodl. 
2508. 

1 MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 163, a. 



LECTURER. 



129 



practice of the Abbatial visitors, con- 
cerning this office of Lecturer : 

"Ryght honurable M r . Secretary, 
my duty premised, plesith it yow to 
be advertized, that whereas ye have 
appoynte me to rede the pure and 
syncere worde of God to the Monkes 
of Wynchcombe, and to be charged 
also over the congregation or parische, 
beying the Abbot's impropried bene- 
fyce, ther likewise to prech the true 
worde of God, to scrape the sea?' (Q,u.) 
of Rome out of the harts of men, and 
to sett forth and open to the people 
the true and just tytle of our Sove- 
reigne and M r . our supreme cyvill 
hedd yn yerth of this his politicke 
body of England ; besyde that I have 
small favor or lesse assestance, chiefly 
among the more parte of the phary- 
saical papists, yet among all other the 
Abbot of Haylys, a valyaunt knight 
and sowdyar, under Antechriste's 
banner, doth moch resyst, fyting with 
all his power to kepe Christ in his 
sepulchre. This Abbot hath hired a 
grete Golyath, a sotle Dunys [a great 
disputant from Duns Scotus] man, yea 
a great clerk (as he sayith), a bachlor 
of dyvinitye in Oxfourth, which man 
obstruet et capiet me in sermone, and 
whereas I preach, &c. he precheth, &c. 
As this grete clerke prechethe not the 
worde of God truly, nithir prechethe in 
worde for to prove our Princes just 
auctoryte, nor yet agenst the usurped 
power of the Bishoppe of Rome, so he, 
lyke a sotte (foolish Fr.) Sophyster, 
and crafty Dunys, maingleth and by 
colour speketh all that he may, rather 



for the maintenaunce of his usurped 
power. Now bycause I know your 
worshipp to be the faithful minister to 
God, and our most christen and lovinge 
kinge, therefore I am so bolde to cer- 
tify you by this brynger, of two ser- 
mons, which I and thys bringer and 
many others did hear him preche lately 
at Hayles. Mythink these thinges 
sound ill both to God and our soverain 
Lord, therfor I nothyng dowt but by 
your discresyon you will shortly see 
thereyn a reformation, and moche the 
sooner, bycause the said Abbot of 
Hayles, for the maintenaunce of this 
man, saith that y r worship sent him 
thither, and will maynteyn him, by 
which he causith a tumulte both of 
gentilmen, and also of othir people of 
the cuntre hyred thereto (as I am very 
sure) of the Abb at, to jake and force 
ayent me ; and wher as I intende not 
to contende with them, yett both I and 
thys brynger, as he can more largely 
certify your worshippe, stand daily by 
ther procurement in jeopardy of our 
lives. Furthermore, as concerninge 
my lecture, I hartily beseche you to 
appoynt me a convenient howze to 
rede to the Monks in the forenone. I 
cannot brynge them therto at that 
tyme in a due houre, they sett so moche 
by ther Popishe service, &c. 

Anthonye Sawnders/" 3 
The Carmelites elected Lecturers in 
their Synods.b 



a MS, Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 47, b. 
b Bale, ed. i. 4to. fol. 210. 



130 



MONASTIC OFFICERS< 



CHAPTER XVIL 



ALMONER. 



He was to find mats a in the Choir, &c. 
to put nnder the feet of the Monks in 
the Vigil of All Saints; also under 
those of the boys and youths. He 
was besides to find mats in the Chap- 
ter, Cloister, in both the parlours, and 
upon the stairs of the Dormitory. 
This he was to have strewed with 
rushes twice a year, at the assumption 
and nativity of the Virgin Mary ; and 
find ivy leaves at Easter for the Clois- 
ter and Chapter. He was to provide 
the rods for the Chapter, Chapel, and 
boys' school, and brooms, plates, bas- 
kets, and sweepers for the Refectory. 
He was to sweep yearly the walls of 
the Dorter, and three days before the 
assumption of St. Mary, clean that 
place with a small circled He was to 

* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 203, 4. Sub pedibus 
monaehorum inveniet mattas in choro, &c. in vigi- 
\\k omnium sanctorum ; identidem sub puerorum et 
juvenum ; prseterea inveniet mattas in capitulo, in 
claustro, in quolibet locutorio ; super ascensorios 
gradus dormitorii ; bis cirpabit dormitorium per 
annum, sc. ad assumpt. et nat. S. Mar. ; inveniet 
folia hsederse ad pascha, in claustro, in capitulo, in 
scola puerorum procurabit disciplinas, in refectorio 
scopas, discos, scoparios, sportas. Scopab it annua - 
tim macerias dormitorii, et triduo ante assumpt. S. 
Mar. mundabit dormitorium circulo tenui. Quo- 
ciens abbas vir aut alius in camera discubuerit unus 
ministror' elemosynar' presentiam suam exhibeat, 

ut eleemosynam recipiat Identidem net in 

coquina cotidie. — Baculum boxeum, vel alium 
magis idoneum de manu in manum sunt assignaturi : 
idemque ministri cumjanitore, vel cumministro suo 
processionem buc et illuc anticipabunt, ut viam 
hominum impedimento aliorumque impedientium 
expediant. Licet eleemosynario pro negotiis do- 
mus uno die ire, eodem redire, non petita licentisL 
Annuatim contra natale domini pannos sotulares 
emit, viduis, orphanis, et maxime clericis quos 
precipue egere consideraverit, distribuet. Ex con- 
suetudine non licet eleemosynario per tabulas, aut 
aliud aliquid colligere. Si quicquid per tabulas 
sibi porrectum fuerit, licet ei recipere et ad elee- 
mosynam deferre : post prandium autem conventus 
de egressu refectorii licet ei tabulas ambire, quic- 
quid potus de caritate remanserit eleemosynse des- 
tinare. f. 204 b. 

tt Du Cange says, the Monks used to sleep on 
mats, pray on them, hold their collations on them, 
and strew them under the dead, (in voce). 

b Not in Du Cange. It is used for interval. 
See sect. Servants. 



make out the brevia c (or annunciations 
of the deaths of Monks), and give 
them to the Chantor. He was to find 
the necessaries for the maundy; to 
send the account of the deaths of the 
brethren to the neighbouring houses, 
and to take care that a servant con- 
stantly guarded the gates of the Locu- 
tory, and honourably to admit the 
visitors. As often as an Abbot, or 
other person, dined in the chamber, 
one of his servants was to attend to 
receive the alms ; and the same was 
daily to be done in the kitchen. At 
the Rogation processions, two of his 
servants were to stand at the gate of 
the house, and give to every Monk a 
boxen staff, or other more suitable, 
from hand to hand ; and the same 
servants, with the porter, or his man, 
were to go before the procession this 
or that way, that they might clear the 
way from people pressing in, or other 
hindrances. On business of the bouse, 
he could go out on one day, and return 
on the same, without asking leave. 
He was to buy annually against Christ- 
mas, cloth and shoes for widows, 
orphans, and especially clerks, and 
those whom he thought to need it 
most. He was not allowed to collect 
any thing through the tables. If any 
thing was handed to him from thence, 
he could take it, and devote it to alms. 
After dinner, when the Convent had 
left the Refectory, he could go round 
the tables, and destine to alms the 
drink which remained of the charity. 

At Evesham, it was his office to 
receive half a mark from the Abbot on 
Maundy Thursday, to be distributed 
among the Monks to give to the poor, 



c See MS. Harl. 652, f. 44. b. MS. Cott. Tib. 
A. in. f. 74 b. same in substance as printed in 
Cone. Reg. 



ALMONER. 



131 



and to have the care of the Monks 5 
garden. a 

The Almoner was to reserve the 
nice pieces which were left, for the 
sick and infirm poor, who were instruct- 
ed by him to eat them privately apart. b 

By the Norman Institutes, his office 
was to find out poor, sick, and infirm 
persons, for which, when he went him- 

a Monast. i. 148. 

b Ord. Vict. MS. Du Cange, v. Eleemosynarius. 



self, he was to have two assistant 
servants, to send all women out of 
such house before his coming, and then 
console the sick, and supply their 
wants as they wished. Where the sick 
were women, one of the servants per- 
formed this office. In the disposition, 
however, of his alms, he was to give 
previous notice to the Abbot or Prior, 
and attend to their directions. 

* Dec. Lanfr. c. 9. De Cellario. 



K 2 



132 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



MASTER OF THE NOVICES. 



The Prior, say the Constitutions of 
the Friers, shall choose, for the instruc- 
tion of the Novices, a diligent master, 
who shall instruct them in the Order, 
stimulate them in the Church, and 
where they behave themselves negli- 
gently, endeavour to amend them as 
much as he can by a word or a sign, 
and, as far as he is able, provide 
necessaries for them. He could grant 
pardon for open negligences, when they 
sought it from him, or accuse them in 
Chapter. He was to teach them to 
be humble in heart and body, and 
endeavour to bring them up to this 
point according to the text, " Learn of 
me, who am meek and lowly in heart ;" 
to instruct them how to receive disci- 
plines, and not talk of the absent, even 
that which was good ; how to drink 
with two hands, and how to sit ; how 
carefully they ought to guard the 
books and vestments, and other goods 
of the house ; how intent they ought 
to be in study, and be reading some- 
thing day and night in the house and 
when on journeys; how they should 
work, how they should meditate, how 
they should endeavour to get by heart 
every thing they could ; how fervent 
they should be in preaching in good 
time?* 



* Prior noviciis magistrum diligentem in instruc- 
tionem eorum proponat, qui eos de ordine doceat, 
in ecclesia, excitet, et ubi se negligenter habuerint 
verbo vel signo quantum poterit studeat eos emen- 
dare, et necessaria quantum potest debet eis procu- 
rare. De apertis negligenciis, dum ante eum veniam 
petierint veniam potest dare, vel eos in capitulo 
proclamare. Humilitatem cordis et corporis doceat 
habere, et studeat ad hoc ipsum instituere juxta 
illud, " Discite a. me, qui mitis sum, et humilis 
corde." Qualiter disciplinas suscipient, et non 
loquantur de absente non quae bona sunt. Quod 
duabus manibus sit bibendum et sedendum. Quam 
diligenter debeant custodire libros et vestes alias- 
que res monasterii. Quam intenti esse debent in 
studio, ut de die et nocte, in domo in itinere, legant 
aliquid ; ut operentur, ut meditentur, ut quicquid 
poterint retinere corde tenus nitantur. Quam 



By the Norman Institutes, they were 
to shave the boys, and the boys them. 
The latter were to wash the heads of 
the boys too little to shave themselves.** 
By the Benedictine Constitutions, a 
master was to be provided, who was 
to teach the Monks the primitive 
sciences of grammar, logic, and philo- 
sophy: 15 but there were Lay-teachers ; c 
and Monks themselves used to travel 
from house to house to teach music 
or singing. d Lyndwood says, the 
masters of the Novices were to be old 
men. e 

In the Order of St. Victor, the 
master is ordered to instruct the No- 
vices how to unshoe or to cover them- 
selves, and not to enter the Necessary 
unless with the head covered/ 

Davies says, " There were always 
six Novices, who went daily to school 
within the house, for the space of seven 
years together ; and one of the eldest 
and most learned Monks was consti- 
tuted their tutor. The said Novices 
had no wages, but meat, drink, and 
apparel for that space. The master, or 
tutors office, was to see they wanted 
nothing ; as cowls, frocks, stamyne, 
bedding, boots, socks ; and as soon as 
they needed any of these necessaries, 
the master had charge to call at the 
Chamberlain's for such things. 

The satire of Nigell Wireker, a Monk 
of Canterbury, upon the pupil of the 
middle age, under the figure of an ass, 
is so piquant, so elegant, and exhibits 
so fine a state of mind in its author, 
that I shall here digress to give it : 



ferventes esse debeant in praedicatione tempore 
optimo. MS. Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 160. 

a Dec. Lanfr. C. 12. 

b See, respecting this vague term, Mosheiin's 
Ecc. Hist. i. 569. Ed. 4to, 1765. 

c Wart. Hist. Eng. Poetry, ii. 429, 435. 
. d Lyndw. 210. <* Id. 144. 

f Du Cange, v. Necessaria. 



MASTER OF THE NOVICES. 133 

Jam pertransierat Burnellus tempora multa, 

Et prope completus septimus annus erat. 
Cum nichil ex toto quodcumque docente magistro, 

Aut socio potuit discere preeter Ya. 
Quod natura dedit ; quod ssec'ium detulit illuc, 

Hoc habet; hoc illi nemo tulisse potest. 
Cura magistrorum multum quum diu laborabat 

Demum defecit victa lab ore gravi. 
Dorso se baculus, lateri se virga frequenter 

Applicat ; et ferulam sustinuere manus : 
Semper Ya repetit : nichil est quod dicere possit 

Afrectus quovis verbere preeter Ya. 
Vellicat hie aurem ; nasum quatit ille recurvum ; 
Hie secat, hie urit ; hinc solvitur inde legatur ; 

Intonat iste minas ; porrigit ille preces ; 
Sic in eo certant ars et natura vicissim ; 

Ars rogat, ilia jubet ; h&ec abit, ilia manet : 
Quorum principia constat viciosa fuisse 

Aut vix, aut nunquam convaluisse valent ; 
A primo didicit Burnellus Ya : nichil ultra 

Quam quod natura dat retinere potest. 

Spec. Stult. MS. Cott. Titus, A. xx 5 &c. 

Now a very long season Burnellus had past, 

And the seventh of years was near ended at last ; 

When of all that his comrade and master had taught, 

To learn nothing but Ya could Burnellus be brought; 

What Nature had given, what Time had brought there, 

That he had ; and that none could away from him tear. 

The masters, when long they had labour'd in vain, 

No longer the burden would bear to sustain : 

To his back went the stick, and the rod to his side, 

And the ferula oft to his hands was applied. 

Still Ya he cries out ; still could only say Ya, 

And blow upon blow nothing else could outdraw ; 

This pulls at his ear ; that twists his nose round ; 

This cuts, and that burns ; now he 's loosed, now he } s bound ; 

This menaces thunders ; that stoops to request ; 

And Nature and Art both the matter contest ; 

Art begs ; Nature orders ; this goes ; that remains : 

Where the foundacion 's bad, 'tis no use to take pains ; 

Nought but Ya from the first had he learned ; nor aught 

Could poor Burnell retain, but what Nature had taught. 



Of the absurd sciences, which pre- 
vailed in the eeras of which I treat, it 
is unnecessary for me to say more, 
than that the tendency of such was, 
and ever will be, to create not a man 
of science, but a mixture of the puppy, 



to be formed in the school of the Clas- 
sics. 

The Mistress of the Novices, among 
the Gilbertines, when she served at 
the table, was not to speak in the 
interim with the Novices, nor enter 



pedant, and pettifogger, a pert, liti- their cell. She might, however, look 



gious, captious, vain, and ostentatious 
character, quibbling but not able, quick 
but shallow. Taste and mind are only 



through the gate, to see whether they 
behaved in an orderly manner. She 
could not grant them licence to do any 



134 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



work, nor speak in their cell after 
Vespers, lest they should lose the time 
of reading. Nor could she take their 
private pardons, or discipline them 
without the Prioress's order. In the 
winter, when it was required, she 
explained the Rule before Tierce, to 
the Novices going to make profession ; 



and, if she could not finish it before 
Tierce, after Chapter. She was very 
seldom to grant them leave to sit in 
the parlour, at the time assigned for 
their instruction in the Order. a 

a Monast. Anglic, ii. 770. 



INFIRMARER. 



135 



CHAPTER XIX. 



INFIRMARER. 



By the Decrees of Lanfranc, he was 
to have a Cook and kitchen separate 
(if possible)^ that he might have every 
thing ready for the sick in its proper 
season ; to administer all their meals, 
and sprinkle holy water after Complin 
on the beds. After making the triple 
prayer before Mattins, to go round 
them with a lantern, to see if any able 
to rise staid in bed ; to proclaim in 
Chapter all negligences ; to order his 
servants to warm the water for wash- 
ing the corpse, when he saw a Monk 
was at the point of death. Care and 
management of the bier was in him 
and his servants, as well as of the 
table the Prior struck. After the wash- 
ing and removal of the corpse, he was 
to wash the place where it lay to be 
cleaned, and have it fresh strewed with 
straw or rushes. 

At Abingdon, # after the daily office 
was finished in the Infirmary, he was 
at all hours to be present in the Con- 
vent, nor then have the care of the 
sick. Vespers were excepted. In all 
feasts of robes he was to be present 
till Lauds, nor be absent from Vespers. 
He was to lie constantly in the Infir- 
mary, and those who lay there were to 
receive licence of being bled from the 
Infirmarer. He was to attend to the 
sick, with two brethren to assist him, 

* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. p. 205. Officio 
diurno in infirmitorio expleto, omnibus horis eritin 
conventu, nee curani infirniorum gerat tan turn, 
vesperis exceptis. In omnibus festis, quse celebra- 
buntur in cappis, usque ad laudes inierit matutinis, 
nee deerit vesperis. Jacebit in infirmitorio conti- 
nue ; in infirmitorio reeiibantes licentiam minuendi 
accipient de infirmario. — Si quis angistro, qui ab 
angendo dicitur, et alio nomine ventosa a suspirio 
vocatur, minui voluit, infirmario indicabit. Infir- 
marius ministro illi administration! deputato opus 
suum adimplere precipiet, candelamque ad illam 
administrationem inveniet. Abbas assensu capituli 
talem infirrnariurn constituat, ut infirmorum con- 
fessionem pro inopinatee rei eventu recipere possit 
§t debeat. f, 205. 



and to take care that the Monks under 
his protection went to their beds and 
rose with regularity. There was to be 
silence after Complin, a punishment of 
sloth, and on Sundays the Sacrament. 
The alms of the sick, till the Prime of 
the next day, was to be under the cus- 
tody of the Infirmarer. He was to 
provide provision for the sick, and to 
find a light for the Monks who lay 
constantly in the Infirmary, or who 
dined or drank there, as often as it 
was necessary. He was to go to the 
kitchen daily, and receive what he 
wanted for the sick. If any one dis- 
eased with the agi strum, so called ab 
angendo (from choaking), and by an- 
other name, ivindy, from short breath- 
ing, wished to be bled, he was to 
announce it to the Infirmarer, who 
was to order the servant, to whom 
that office belonged, to do it ; and find 
him a candle for it. The Abbot, with 
the consent of the Chapter, was to 
appoint such a person Infirmarer as 
might be able, in case of sudden ac- 
cident, to receive the confession of the 
sick. 

The Infirmaress had a Lay-sister as 
an assistant, and neither of them had 
an office out of the Infirmary when 
any one was very sick. The Infirma- 
ress was allowed to be present at 
the Mass till the Post-communion, 
unless any necessity of the sick hin- 
dered her. V ^he could not indicate, 
by a sign, what she wanted, the Cel- 
laress was to come, and, in her hearing, 
she was to mention her necessities. 
She never served in the kitchen when 
she had persons grievously sick. She 
gave the Peace to the sick when the 
sick said Confiteor. 3 - 



a Monast. ii. 776. 



136 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER XX. 



PORTER. 



The office of Porter was for the most 
part committed to men of mature age, 
and unblameable life. a The Benedic- 
tine Porter had a deputy, who was 
never absent while his master took a 
message to the Cellarer. He only 
entered the Kitchen, Refectory, Infir- 
mary, and residence of the Superior, to 
deliver a message when visitors came, 
which office the deputy could execute 
when his master was absent. He al- 
ways lay at night at the gate, and had 
a horse, that, as often as the Superior 
or Cellarer wished, he might attend 
their summons, and ride with them. 
He had always a boy, who lay at the 
gate with the Sub-porter, and took the 
key, after curfew, to the Cellarer's bed, 
which he fetched again in the morn- 
ing, sooner or later, as necessary. b In 
some accounts we find, that as soon as 
the bell rang for Complin, the Porter 
locked the gates, and carried the keys 
to the Abbot. c We hear also of deaf 
and dumb Porter s. d Of the Augusti- 
nian Porter Mr. Steevens gives us the 
following account: " Adjoining to the 
said gate (of Oseney), was a little cabin, 
or cell, for the Janitor to lodge in, who, 
according to their Rule, was to keep 
the gates for the most part shut, not 
to let any in without leave from 
the Abbot ; to have an eye towards the 
young Canons in their wandering to 
and fro ; to keep out Lay-people and 
young women, especially men bearing 
weapons, or suspicious varlets, who 
not only came with an intent to filch, 
but also to pry into the actions of the 
Canons, and so thereby take advan- 
tage to slander their conversation, and 
render them odious to the vulgar ; he 
was also to receive poor people, and 



a Du Cange, v. Portarins. 

b Thorpe's Custum. Roffen. 29. 

c Du Cange, v. Completa, 

* Gold, Legend, lv. 



pilgrims, with love and in the name of 
God ; not to let them abide long at the 
gate, to the disturbance of the quiet, 
but send them away with refreshment, 
for which purpose he had several loaves 
appointed by the Cellarer to be laid in 
his cell to distribute to them, especi- 
ally on fasting days, when there was 
no offal meat from the Refectory. 6 Be- 
sides this bread, the Preemonstraten- 
sian, i. e. Augustinian Porter, was to 
sleep by day, if he was a Canon, and 
also by night, if he was a Convert, at 
the gate, but not alone. As soon as 
he heard the bell for the Hour, even 
though he was a Canon, he was to stay, 
while the Hour was celebrating, con- 
ducting himself, as well as he could, 
like the brethren in the Church. He 
was to be present at the Chapter, 
Mass, Vespers, and Mattins, especially 
if he had a companion ; when he was 
absent, his deputy was to watch the 
gate, distribute the alms, and perform 
other his duties/ The right of appoint- 
ing the Porter was sometimes reserved 
by the founder, in right of dominion, 
which Porter, at the installation of 
every new Prior, was to receive five 
shillings only, or an ox.? He had also 
very valuable fees and privileges, as 
" two corrodies, a Monk's loaf, ii coro- 
nati, h and two meals a day, and beer; 
an allowance from the Abbot's store- 
room, and another from the Refectory 
cellar; benefits of certain lands; an 
offering of 4s. id. at Christmas, he 
and his man, and at Easter 2%d. { Du 

e Steevens's Monast. ii. 120. 

f Bibliotheca Preemonstratensis, v. i. p. 808. 

e Monast. i. 358. 

h Du Cange has Panes coronati (v. Panis), 
loaves in the form of a crown. 

1 Petrus portarius duo conredia habet ; panem 
monachi et ii coronatos, et ii fercla per diem, et 
cervisiam, unam mansuram de promptuario abba- 
tis, et aliam de cellario aula?. Scepinga ejus iiii 
acras (div. in div. loc.) et habet oblationem iiiis. et 
ob. in natale Domini, ipse et homo suus, et in 
paschaii ob, MS, Cott. Claud, B, vi, p. 178, 



PORTER. 



137 



Cange mentions various Porters, as 
one at the gate, where the poor ap- 
plied for alms ; the Porter of the court, 
a Lay-brother ; the Porter of the Clois- 
ter, a Lay-brother also, a who was to 
prevent strangers from entrance or 
inspection. John de Northwolde, in 
his tract of Minor Offices, mentions a 
Porter and his boy, as in the service of 
the Infirmarer. b The White book of 
Edmundsbury mentions the Janitor at 
the great gate, and a Portarius, or 
Porter, for another f for, however, as 

a In voce Portarius. 

b In obedientia infirmarii officium janitoris et 
garcionis ejusdem. MS. Harl. 743. f. 209. 



Tanner notes, the terms Janitor and 
Portarius might be confused, Walafrid 
Strabo justly observes, the term janua 
was proper only to the entrance of a 
house. d John de Northwolde also 
mentions a Portership of the Refectory, 
with all its members and appurtenan- 
ces, with an annexed serjeanty. e Va- 
rious Porters are also mentioned by 
Davies, of which notice will be taken 
in their respective places. 

c Janitor, 1 ad magnam portam. MS. Harl. 
Portarius, J 1005. f. 44. 

d C. 6. p. 666. 

e Quandam serjantiam spectantem ad custodem 
ostii refectorii, cum omnibus membris et pertinen- 
tiis. MS. Harl. 743, p. 210. 



138 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



REFECTIONER. 



He was to take care that the pots, or 
noggins, were washed at certain feasts ; 
and the same care was to be taken 
with regard to the cups. The tables 
were to be wiped daily. He was 
to find from his revenues, cups, 
pots, table-cloths, mats, basins, double 
cloths, candlesticks, towels, saltsellers. 
If the cups were broken, they were to 



* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 202. Obbsedebent 
ablui prudentia Refectorarii, sc. ad festum Oran. S. 
ad Nat. Dom., ad Purif. S. Mar., in anniv. Faricii 
et Vincentii, ad Pasch., ad fest. reliqu. Pentecost, 
assumpt. et nativ. S. Mar. Identidem omnesciphi 
debent ablui. — Refectorarius de redditibus sibi 
assignatis inveniet in Refectorio ciphos, obbas, 
mappas, mattas, pelves, duplomata, candelabra, 
manutergia, salina. Si ciphi franguntur, laminis 
argenteis cura Refectorarii reparabuntur. Die 
ccense Domini post coinpletorium prudentia refec- 
torarii scopabitur refectorium. Quociens poma 
distribuuntur in refectorio pomarius dabit xxx poma, 
excepto communi refectorario. Hostilarius hos- 
pites in refectorium introducet ; sic refectorarius 
obbas secundum personarum differentias constituet, 
accubitusque discumbendi significabit. Ter in 
anno, sc. ad festum Omn. Sanct. ad Nat. Dom. 
ad Pasch. habebit quinque honera stramentorum 
de bertona fratrum pedibus in refectorio supponen- 
dis. 5 honera fceni refectorio jaciendi. Quinquies 
in anno inveniet cirpum in refectorio sc. ad Ascens. 
D. Pentec. ad fest. S. Joh. ad assumpt. et nativ. S. 
Mar. Si monacho per tabulas panis apponatur, 
refectorarius panem et caseum manibus suis cuilibet 
monacho proponet. Si abbas in conventu discu- 
buerit, pelves, aquam, manutergium ante prandium 
poni procurabit ad lavatorium. Identidem in refec- 
torio post prandium. Ad caritatem cum idromelli, 
vel aliusmodi potus, sono signi excitabit fratres, ad 
administrationem caritatis, pulsabitque signum ad 
benedictionem, identidem ad collationem. Provi- 
dentia debet refectorarii vinum in promptuario abba. 
tis accipi, quociens in conventu vinum debet distri- 
bui, et mensurare sc. quum viderit necesse. In 
restitutione et donacione caritatum supra ferias 
semel tacto signo excitabit fratres administration! 
potus, sed benedictio non dabitur. Secundum 
temporis exigentiam refectorarius de prandio surget, 
ut in cifis caritatem tenentibus potum infundet. 
Refectorarius priest aliis una. caritate. Abbati, 
monachis abbatis, monachis infirmariis, monachis 
pocionariis inveniet caritatem ; Abbati autem duas 
caritates, si in camera discubuerit. Minister qui 
prseest aliis in infirmitorio habet caritatem idro- 
melli et ne'nius (f. err. pro vini.) Nulli exteriori 
victum de promptuario habenti dabitur caritas idro- 
melli et vini, vel alicujus poculi, nisi in, anniv. 
Faritii et Innocentii, 202 b. 



be repaired with silver plates. On 
Maundy Thursday, after Complin, he 
was to have the Refectory swept. 
When apples were distributed in the 
Refectory, the Pomarius, or apple-offi- 
cer, was to give thirty, besides the 
common allowance, to the Refectioner. 
As the Hosteler was to introduce the 
visitors into the fratry, so the Refec- 
tioner was to place the pots according 
to the rank of the persons, and appoint 
them their places to dine at. Three 
times in the year, at All Saints, Christ- 
mas, and Easter, he was to have five 
bundles of straw from the Barton, to 
put under the feet of the Monks in the 
Refectory, and five burdens of hay for 
that place. He was to find rushes for 
the same place five times in a year. a 
He was to weigh the cheese. He was 
not to be absent from Mattins nor 
Prime. He was to be busy at morning 
Mass and Tierce for cutting and put- 
ting cheese ; and when a person was 
wanting, to take in the cheese. Pre- 
sent at great Mass, and to go out after 
the gospel. He was absent from Sext, 
and also from Nones, when the ser- 
vants happened to dine at that hour. 
He was present at Vespers, and at 
Complin, unless hindered by the pre- 
sence of visitors, to whom he was 
silently to attend with his hood on. 
He was dismissed from the service of 
the week at Church ; and attended on 
the minuti and visitors at whatever 
hour they dined. When bread was 
put before any Monk at table, the 
Refectioner was to distribute the bread 
and cheese with his own hands. If the 
Abbot dined in the Convent, he was to 
cause basins, water, and a towel before 
dinner to be placed at the lavatory, and 



a In the Rule of S. Victor, the Refectioner is to 
find mats, snuffers, and cocks for the Lavatory, and 
clean the Lavatory as often as necessary. Du 
Cange, v. Mmcatoria. 



REFECTIONER. 



139 



in the same manner in the Refectory- 
after dinner. At the charity, whether 
of idromel or any other kind of drink, 
he warned the Monks, by the sound of 
a bell, to the ministration of the charity, 
and rang the bell for the benediction ; 
in like manner at the collation. The 
Refectioner was to receive wine from 
the store-house or cellar of the Abbot 
as often as it was to be distributed in 
the Convent, and to measure it if neces- 
sary. In the restitution and donation 
of charities on week-days, he warned 
the brethren to the ministration of the 
drink, but no benediction was given. 
He rose from dinner according to the 
exigencies of time, to pour the drink in 
the cups that contained the charity. 
The Refectioner exceeded the others 
by one charity. He found the charity 



for the Abbot, the Abbot's Monks (or 
chaplains), the Monks assisting in the 
Infirmary, and those who attended and 
helped at the charity ;a for the Abbot 
he provided two charities if he dined in 
camera. The servant who presided 
over the others in the Infirmary had a 
charity of idromel, and not of that only. 
One of idromel and wine, or of any 
drink, was granted to no person having 
allowance from the cellar, except on 
the anniversaries of Faritius and Inno- 
cent. 13 



a See Dec. Lanfr. in the Charity, ut supra. 

b Besides the Refectioner, there was an obscure 
officer, called the Pittancer, or dispenser of allow- 
ances over commons on festivals ; and he was to 
distribute the charities on certain feasts. Monast 
i. 149. 



140 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



HOSPITALER.' 



A lantern was found for him by the 

chamberlain, and candle by the Sacrist. 
He had annually the taleaparia 9 - of the 
best of the old shoes for the visitors that 
wanted slippers, to serve them in a 
morning. He was allowed to drink 
with any orderly person, for the sake 
of sociality, at the direction and request 
of that person, without asking leave. 
But he could not, without permission, 
dine with any persons, except Abbots 
of the Order, or their vicegerents. By 
the Norman institutes, he was to have 
in the hostrey beds, seats, tables, tow- 
els, table-cloths, cups, plates, spoons, 
basins, and similar articles ; as well as 
wood, bread, beer, and other viands 
from the cellar. He was to observe 



* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 207. Habebit 
prteterea vetustarum crepitarum quae meliores fue- 
rint annuatim taleapai'ia ad opus hospiturn crepitis 
carentium, ad matutinas crepitas calciatura. Licet 
hostilario cum qualibet ordinata (perhaps it means 
" in holy orders,") persona, gratia consolationis, 
precepto et persona? peticione non petita licentia 
bibere. Non licet cum aliquibus discumbere, nisi 
cum nostri ordinis abbatibus, vel vicem abbatum 
gerentibus, nisi gratia licentia?. Perhaps there was 
an officer of this kind, sometimes created for extra- 
ordinary occasions ; for I find in MS. Cott. Cleop. 
B. ii. p. 221, mention of the hospitaler who should 
he for the time for receiving the parents, guests, and 
friends coming to the Monks, &c. ,! Hostilarius 
qui pro tempore fuerit, pro suscipiendisparentibus, 
hospitibus, et amicis, ad confratres monachorum 
venientibus, &c." 

a Talaria are shoes even with the ancles. Du 
Cange, Talus and Par make the same. 



the officers, whether they had proper 
servants, and regular chambers, and to 
make complaints of their ill behaviour. 
If strange clerks wished to dine in the 
Refectory, he was to notify it to the 
Abbot or Prior, and, upon consent, to 
instruct them how to behave in the 
Refectory ; and, after ringing a bell, 
introduce them into the parlour, where 
the Abbot, or Prior in his absence, 
was to give them water to wash their 
hands, and afterwards conduct them to 
the Abbot's table. When dinner was 
over, he was to remain alone with the 
Abbot, or Prior, follow the procession 
of the Convent with the visitors, and, 
after it had passed the Refectory door, 
lead them out of the Cloister, singing 
a psalm in a low voice. He was to 
conduct a strange Monk through the 
Cloister into the Church to pray ; and 
introduce into the Chapter Seculars 
who sought the fraternity of the house. 
He was to shew the offices to those 
who wished to see them, unless the 
Convent was in the Cloister, or they 
were booted or spurred; or barefooted, 
or only in breeches. He was also to 
bring Novitiates at their first entrance 
into the house to the Chapter, and 
instruct them how to make their first 
petition. b 

b See more of this officer in Hostrey. 



CHAMBERLAIN. 



141 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



CHAMBERLAIN, 



By the decrees of Lanfranc he was to 
find every thing necessary for the 
clothes, bedding, cleanliness, and sha- 
ving of the Monks. He was to find 
the glass for making and mending the 
Dormitory windows ; shoeing for the 
horses ; gowns, garters, and spurs for 
the Monks travelling; and once in a 
year have the Dormitory swept, and 
the straw of the beds changed. At 
Abingdon* he was to find annually for 
every Monk a pilch before the feast of 
All Saints, and the same allowance of 
gowns and hoods ; and two pilches, 
a hood and gown for the Abbot. He 
attended fairs. Three times in a year, 
at Easter, Christmas, and the Nativity 
of the Virgin Mary, he was to provide 
the use of the baths for the refresh- 
ment of the bodies of the Monks. He 
was to find the beds in the Dormitory, 
and straw, pucas, 3 - ropes, and stools. 
He could, to repel the wants of the 
Monks, search the beds ; and no one 



* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 198. Annuatim 
inveniet cuilibet monacho pellicium ante festum 
Omnium S'ctor. idemque de coopertoriis et caputiis 
inditium ; abbati annuatim duo pellicea, et cucullam 
ettunicam.— Terinanno, sc. Pascba, ad Nat. Domi- 
ni, ad Nativ. S. Mar. ad recreationem corporum 
procurabit usus balnearum. In dormitorio inveniet 
cubilia, et cubili stramina, pucas, et funes, et sca- 
bella. Licet camerario lectos, ut fratrum indigen- 
tiam expellat, explorare in dormitorio. Nulli licet 
de lecto in lectum vestimenta removere, camerario 
ignorante. _ Omne inventum a camerario, datum 
vel dandum in capitulo, repositum, et annulo cog- 
nitum, camerario erit depositum. — In admissione 
noyitii vestes camerario debent assignari, et sub 
ipsius custodia, sine distributione aliqua donee, 
professus fuerit, reponi. In amissone cultelli, 
pectinis, nova dari. Ex consuetudine novitiis 

novaculas^ et manutergia debet invenire De 

coense dominico mandatum pauperes, cum eleemo- 
synario et janitore, introducet, primo parentes 
monachorum egentes, deinde clericos, et peregrinos, 
unicuique tres prsebiturus denarios. In usu fratrum 
balneario camerarius conducet quendam ministrum, 
cui pertinet administratio balneatoria, cumministro 
ablutorum. f. 199 a . 

a PewJce Angl. is a gown. Perhaps it should be 
pertica, a beam to hang things on. See Dormitory. 
It is not in Du Cange or Charpentier. 



could remove the clothes from bed to 
bed without his leave. Every thing 
provided by the Chamberlain, granted 
or to be granted in Chapter, was laid 
up and sealed by him, and in his care. 
At the Maundy on Holy Thursday he 
was, with the assistance of the Almo- 
ner and Porter, to introduce the poor, 
first the necessitous parents of the 
Monks, afterwards the clerks and pil- 
grims, bestowing upon each of them 
three pence. In the admission of a 
Novice, his clothes were to be assigned 
to the Chamberlain, and laid up in his 
custody, without any distribution, until 
he should have professed. Upon the 
loss of a knife, or comb, he was to find 
new ones. He was, from custom, to 
provide the Novices with razors and 
towels. Chalk, at his order, was to be 
brought to the persons employed in 
mending. He was to hire a servant 
for the service of the baths, besides 
the one devoted to the bathed. His 
servants seem to have been in the 
habit of extorting money from the 
Monks for making their clothes. b He 
had a taylor and two bathers in his 
service. The Sub-chamberlain* was 
to be conformable to the will of his 
immediate superior officer. He was to 
be present at Mass, and the hours when 
the Chamberlain was. The Monks 



b Injungimus camerario quod provideat ne ser- 
vientes sui a monachis quorum vestimenta praepa- 
rant invitis, aliquod pro labore suo exigent. MS. 
Cott. Jul. D. 11. p. 161 a. 

c In obedientia camerarii officium unius scissoris 
et duorum balneatorum. MS. Harl. 743. f. 209. 

* MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 198 b. Pro voto 
camerarii fiet instructio subcamerarii. — Sonitu sub- 
camerarii ad usum balnearum procedent monachi. 
Camerario absente, licet subcamerario,licentiapro- 
venta a priore, usum balnearum concedere. Minis- 
ter ablutorum feret et referet vestimenta fratrum in 
dormitorium comitante subcamerario ; minister 
numerabit vestimenta in prsesentia. subcamerarii cum 
feret, identidem cum referet. Nullus ministrorum 
sartorum prassumet ire in dormitorium, nisi ductu 
subcamerarii. f. 198 b. 



142 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



were to go to the baths under his 
direction ; and, in the absence of the 
Chamberlain, he could grant the use 
of them with the Prior's consent. He 
was to accompany the servant of the 
bathed in bringing and carrying back 
the clothes of the bathed into the Dor- 
mitory ; and that servant, in his pre- 
sence, was to count the clothes, both 
in bringing them and returning them. 
No servant of the menders was to go 
to the Dormitory but under his 
guidance. The clothes were to be dis- 
tributed by his direction, and all the 
old ones were in his custody. He 
was allowed to give out girdles, and 
other matters of that kind. He was 
to prepare the beds of the Novices, 
and to light and extinguish the can- 



dles in the Dormitory at twilight or 
day-break. 

Davies says, "The Chamberlain's 
office was to provide stamyne, other- 
wise called linsey-woolsey, for sheets 
and shirts for the Novices and the 
Monks, for they were not permitted to 
wear linen. He kept a taylor daily at 
work a in making socks of white wool- 
len cloth, both whole and half socks ; 
and making shirts and sheets of linsey- 
woolsey in a shop underneath the 
Exchequer. This taylor was one of 
the servants of the house. The cham- 
ber where he laid was in the Dorter." 

a The Taylor's shop was to be without the inner 
shops of the Cloister ; i. e. in a place where the 
secular servants, if necessary, might be admitted. 
Du Cange, v. Sartrinum. 



OTHER OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE, 



143 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

OTHER OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE, 



Terrier of the House. This officer, 
mentioned by Davies, was to see 
all the guests' chambers cleanly kept, 
and all the napery in the chambers, 
as sheets and pillows, to be sweet and 
clean. He always provided two hogs- 
heads of wine to be ready for the 
entertainment of strangers, and likewise 
provender for their horses, that 
nothing should be wanting, when 
strangers came, of whatsoever degree 
they were. Four yeomen were allowed 
to attend strangers. His chamber was 
in the Infirmary. 

Granetarius, or Keeper of the Gar- 
ners. " His office," says the same 
writer, "was to receive all the wheat 
and barley that came, and give account 
what malt was used weekly; as also 
what barley was delivered to the kiln, 
and what malt received from it, and 
how much was used in the house. 
His chamber was in the Dorter/' 

Master of the Common House. " His 
office," says Davies, "was to provide 
all such spices against Lent, as should 
be comfortable for the Monks under 
their great austerity both of fasting 
and praying ; and to have a fire con- 
stantly in the Common-house hall, for 
the Monks to warm themselves at 
when they pleased; and to provide 
always a hogshead of wine for the 
Monks ; and for keeping his O, called 
O Sapientia; a and to provide figs and 

* "Then by reason of these antiphonars, and 
others which begin with the letter O," says Udal- 
ric, in D'Acherii Spicileg. iv. p. 100. Amalarius, 
in his chapter of the Antophonars which begin 
with O, says, " By this O the Chantor means to 
intimate that the words following belong to some 
wonderful vision, which relates rather to the con- 
templation of the mind, than the narration of the 
singer. The antiphonar, which is the first of the 
eight present in the text of the antiphonary, and is 
inscribed ' O Wisdom, which proceeded from the 
mouth of the Most High,' is partly taken from 
the book of Jesus, the son of Sirach, partly from 
the Wisdom which is commonly ascribed to Solomon, 
for that wonderfully commends wisdom." Amala- 
rius de ordine Antiphonarii, C. 13, p. 520. 



walnuts for Lent. His chamber was 
in the Dorter." 

Firgultarius, or OrcharderJ He 
was not excepted from any of the 
Church duties ; was to have straw 
from the Barton to lay under the 
apples, which he was to deliver to the 
visitors before Complin, after Complin 
the Refectioner, or the same fruit 
which the Convent had for refection. 

Operarius. He could talk with his 
workmen in the Cloister, Church, and 
elsewhere, without exclusion of any 
place, but not with the Monks or 
others, except in case of necessity. 
The Collation in summer was to be 
somewhat delayed, if there were per- 
sons at work in the Church. The 
Operarii were not to go through the 
Cloister, cloked, unshoed, buttoned up, 
nor any others. A part of his office 
was to take care that all slippery mat- 
ters of the glass-shops, and filth of 
such kind, were carried out of doors. 
Other filth the master was to look to. c 

Porcarius. This was an office held 
by serjeantry at Edmundsbury ; d he 
had for his profit the fructus de cauda 
(perhaps the offal, perhaps the dung) 
of every pig fed in the house ; e for 



b MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 207. a. Stramenta 
pomis supponenda et proponenda habebit de Ber- 
tona. Ante completorium hospitibus dabit poma 
virgultarius, post completorium refectorarius, vel 
eundem fructum quo conventus reficitur. f. 207 b. 

c Licet operario cum suis operariis loqui in claus- 
tro, in monasterio et alibi, nullo excluso loco, sed 
non licet loqui cum monachis, vel aliis, nisi tem- 
pore necessitatis. In restate collatio aliquantulum 
morose pulsabitur, si operarii infra septa monas- 
terii operantur. Operarii non ibunt per claustrum 
palliati, discalceati, fibulati, nee aliqui alii. Procu- 
rabit labinas omnium officinarum vitrorum, sordes- 
que labinarum ejus cunt et prudentia exterius defe- 
rentur ; alise sorde (sic) cura magistri. MS. Cott. 
ut sup. f. 207 b. 

d Scriptum de officio custodis porcorum per ser- 
jantiam. MS. Harl. 743, f. 210. 

e Idem omni porco qui nutritur in curi& fructum 
de cauda habebit porcarius. MS. Cott. ut sup. f. 
178 b. 



144 



MONASTIC OFFICERS. 



these animals were of great regard 
among the Monks. How many pigs 
the Abbots ought to have in Kinges- 
frid was settled at Abingdon ; a and 
there are clauses of this kind in nume- 
rous edited charters. Walter Mapes, 
ridiculing the Cistertians for their 
pretences of abstaining from fleshy says, 
(i Pigs they keep, many thousands of 
them, and sell the bacon, perhaps not 
all of it; the heads, legs, and feet, 
they neither give nor sell, nor throw 
away; what becomes of them God 
knows ; likewise there is an account 
between God and them of fowls, that 
they keep in vast numbers/ 515 Nigell 
Wireker says of the hermits of Grand- 
mont, "that they sent no fat pigs to 
the woods." 



* Quot porcos debeat abbas habere in Kingesfrid. 
Id. 173. a. 

b Porcos tamen ad multa millia nutriunt, bacones 
inde vendunt forte non omnes, capita, tibias, 
pedes, nee dant, nee vendunt, nee dejiciunt, quod 
deveniant Deus scit ; similiter et de gallinis inter 
Deum sit et ipsos, quibus habundant maxime. MS. 
Bodl. Wood, II. p. 216. 

c " Nee faciunt pingues in nemus ire sues.'' 
Spec. Stultor. 



Besides these officers, there was 
sometimes the Cancellarius, Registrary, 
Auditor, and Secretary of the Convent, 
it being his proper business to write 
and return letters, and manage the 
most learned employments in the Mon- 
astery. The Butler, who at Abingdon 
ate in the Refectory, and had 20s. wages 
from William de Cumbe, and a ser- 
vant that had the same privilege of 
dinner. d The Lardenarius, or keeper 
of the larder ; Squelenarii, keepers of 
the baskets ; and in short, for every 
mean employment, proper officers, 
who had again secondaries, or assist- 
ants. Among these was the Baker, 
and sub-bakers,e who in the manu- 
script Constitutions of the Clugniac 
Order, are directed not to sing psalms, 
like the other Monks, when at work, 
lest any saliva should fall into the 
dough/ 



d Dapifer comedat in aula, et xx sol. habebit pro 
stipendio de Will de Cumbe, famulus suus comedat 
in aula. MS. Cott. ut sup. 178. 

e Angl. Sacr. i. 343. 

f Du Cange, v. Breiare. 



OFFICERS AMONG THE FRIARS. 



145 



CHAPTER XXV. 

OFFICERS AMONG THE FRIARS, 



General of the Order. His election 
and offices the Chapter of Rules and 
next article shew. Among the Domi- 
nicans, Hospinian says, that they had 
at first Abbots, afterwards Masters of 
the Order, and that the other inferior 
prelates were called Priors and Supe- 
riors. The resignation of the General, 
he adds, was not accepted unless on 
account of perpetual impediments 
Armachanus says (i. e. Fitz Ralph, the 
famous Archbishop of Armagh), that, 
because the Rule of Francis ordered 
that no brother should preach peni- 
tence to the people, unless examined, 
approved, and licensed by the General 
Minister, that the Friers obtained pri- 
vileges to get rid of this examination. 13 
In the amoval and appointment of 
Priors General of the Carmelites bribery 
and corruption interfered. "In that 
Chapter," says the syllabus of them, 
"resigned the reverend Master, bro- 
ther John Grossi, a most worthy doc- 
tor in divinity, and he governed the 
Order forty-two years, and would have 
continued longer, if money had not 
interfered." 

In the Heroi-comic Poem of the 
Nouveau Renard (New Fox), written 
by Jacquemars Gelee in the 13th cen- 
tury, the Dominicans perceive, that the 
poverty which they professed was inju- 
rious to them, and that, if they were 
richer, they would be more respected. 
In consequence, they hold a Chapter ; 



a De orig. et progr. Monach. p. 492, 3. 

b Regula Francisci precipit quod nullus fratrum 
populo poenitentiam audeat predicare, nisi a minis- 
tro generali fuit examinatus et etiam approbatus, 
et ab eo predicationis officium sibi concessuin 
[fuerit] : et fratres, ut non examinentur a miuistro, 
privilegium procurarunt. MS. Bodl. 2737, f. 
14, b. 

c In illo capitulo resignavit reverendus magis- 
ter frater Johannes Grossi in sacra pagina dignis- 
simus doctor, et ordinem rexit annis xlii. et magis 
rexisset, nisi fuisset pecunia. MS. Harl. 1819, f. 
108, a. 



one of them makes a speech ; and 
after having advanced that without 
Reynardism, they should be always 
beggars, they propose to send a depu- 
tation to Reynard, to induce him to 
take their habit, and become General 
of the Order, in the hopes that under 
such a chieftain the Society would not 
fail to extend itself, and abound in 
money. Reynard answers, that he 
cannot accept their offer, but proposes 
to them his eldest son, who has already 
exhibited great ability. They agree, 
and renouncing poverty, go, like the 
other Orders, to inhabit the castle of 
Pride. 

The Franciscans come to Reynard 
with the same request, and he gives 
them his second son. In vain does 
their Rule oppose innovations. They 
allow latitude of conscience, and miti- 
gate their austerities. d 

From this passage we have a full 
idea what a General of the Order was 
expected to be, that is, a skilful Jesuit. 

Prior Provincial had the same pow- 
er in his province as the Ruler of the 
Order, namely, in receiving persons 
under eighteen years of age, and dis- 
pensing with those who could not 
competently read or sing ; and that 
without special licence of the Ruler. 
He was to have the same respect shown 
to him by the brothers of the province 
as the General had, who was not to 
harass his Provincials when present. 
He was bound to visit, either person- 
ally or by deputy. Persons particu- 
larly able and likely to be useful he 
was to send to places of study, and 
they were not to be occupied elsewhere. e 

d MS. dans la Biblioth. Nation. N°. 7615, &c. 
Notices, v. 326. 

e Prior provincialis eandem potestatem babeat in 
sua provincia quanti est rector ordinis, sc. reci- 
piendis minoribus xviii annis, et illis qui nesciunt 
competenter legere et cantare dispenset ; et sine 



146 



MONASTIC OFFICERS, 



The Friers could not give presents to 
women, nor send them orally or by 
writing without his leave. A Consti- 
tution of the Minors, or Franciscans, 
ordered that the Friers should not 
take orders without this officer's con- 
sents 

Diffinitors, says Hospinian, were 
officers "who had the power of appoint- 
ing and ordaining, respecting the pre- 
sident and whole [general] chapter 
during the sitting of the same, regard 
being had to the authority of the Gene- 
ral. Theodoric de Appoldid was the 
author of them." b The Statutes of 
the Franciscans ordered, that those 
should not be Diffinitors in the pro- 
vincial chapter next following, who had 



licentia speciali rectoris. Et eadem reverentia, i. e. 
quae fratribus suae provincial exbibeatur, quse et 
rectori exbibetur, nee rector prsesens exerceat pro- 
vincias suas. Priores provinciales visitare tenentur, 
quod si commode non valuerint committere pote- 
rint vices suas. Curet prior provincialis, ut si 
babuerit aliquos utiles ad docendum, &c. mittere eos 
ad studium ad loca ubi viget studium, et illi ad 
quos mittuntur eos in aliis non audeant occupare. 
MS. Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 167. 

a Munuscula sine licencia prioris provincialis 
mulieribus non dentur a quocunque, nee aure, verbo, 
vel Uteris mandentur. Id. 157, b. Item fratres 
sacros ordines non suscipiant sine suivicarii provin- 
cialis licencia. MS. Bodl. 1882, p. 52, b. 

b Of tbe Dominicans, 392. 



filled that office in the one preceding. 
Among the Benedictines and Augusti- 
nians, says DuCange, of societies lately 
instituted and reformed, and others, 
the Diffinitors are nine Superiors elect- 
ed in the time of the general Chapter, 
who have the principal power of the 
whole assembly, whether in respect to 
the elections of Superiors, or to enact 
and constitute whatever affected the 
Monastic discipline. In certain other 
orders the Diffinitors are called assist- 
ants, or advisers of the Superior, even 
out of the time of the general Chapter. 
Wardens (of the Franciscans) . The 
general Statutes say, "We enact, that, 
in future, the wardens be elected in 
every place by the Convents of such 
place. Also, that no one shall have 
a vote who is not twenty-five years of 
age, and in holy orders; but where 
they have wardens, the custom hither- 
to observed in the election of them 
shall be retained."* 1 

c Qui fuerint diffinitores in provinciali capitulo 
proximo praecedenti non sint diffinitores in cap 
proximo sequenti. MS. Bodl. 1882, f. 65, b. 

d Statuimus ut deinceps gardiani in singulis locis 
elegantur per conventus eorundem locorum. Nul- 
lus vocem babeat, non saltern qui 25 suae eetatis 
annum attigit, et in sacris fuit ordinibus consti- 
tutus ; ubi autem custodes babent, fuerit in eorum 
electione oonsuetudo bactenus observata. Idem. 
61, b. 



nuns' confessor. 



147 



CHAPTER XXVL 



nuns' confessor. 



One officer remains to be mentioned, 
peculiar to the Nuns, as well as two fe- 
males, the Portress and the Formaria. a 
This officer was the Nuns' Confessor, 
appointed, says Lyndwood, by the 
Bishop, and who was, where there was 
no particular person ordained, the 
incumbent of the parish in which 
they resided. b This Confessor did 
duty in the Church, in which he was 
assisted by the Chaplain or Chaplains. 
Whether the Professor was a man of 
learning and discretion, was one of the 
inquirenda of Henry's visitors. 01 

Among the Nuns of Sempringham, 
as soon as the Confessor came, his 
arrival was announced. If the Pri- 
oress then found it necessary that any 
one should confess, she was told to go 
to the place of confession. When the 
confession was made in the house, two 
discreet sisters sat apart from the 
window to see how the Nun confess- 
ing behaved. The Confessor too was 
to shun talking vain and unnecessary 
things ; nor ask who she was, whence 
she came, and such things ; nor to talk 
to her, about who he was, and whence 
he came. His behaviour too was also 
to be watched. No other obedi- 
ence was due to him than that of 
confession^ 

The Brigettine Nun was to confess 
at a latticed window, so as to be heard 
but not seen. f 

It was the opinion of those seras, 
that "the office of a Confessor and 
Preacher was that of a midwife, whose 
duty it was to entirely eradicate sin 
from the heart, that it might after- 
wards bring forth a new man ;"& but the 

a Aubrey says, that the last priest [at the nun- 
nery of Kington St. Michael, co. Wilts] was 
Parson Whaddon, whose chamber is that on the 
right-hand of the porch with the old fashioned 
chimney. Britton's Beauties of Wilts, hi. 154. 

b Lyndwood, p. 211. 

c Const, ii. Monial. de Sopewell, &c. &c. 

d MS. Harl. 791, f. 21. 

e Monast. Anglic, ii. 775. f Ex Regula. 

« Officium obstetricuni nil aliud est quam offi- 



Confessors of Nuns often attended only 
to the latter part of the injunction in a 
corporeal sense. Amours of this kind 
are upon record concerning very ex- 
tensive powers of absolution for cer- 
tain vices ; writing love letters ; inter- 
views at grated windows, and employ- 
ing smiths to remove the bars, as well as 
holy contemplations in the Church at 
night between two lovers. h 

The Porter ess of the Nuns of St. 
Clare was, during the days, to reside 
in an open chamber without the gate ; 
and to have a companion to take her 
place when necessary. They were to 
take care the gate never stood open 
when it was improper. 1 Among the 
Gilbertines, two Nuns attended at the 
Versatile window, who went to Mass 
and Chapter alternately. k 

The Formarius was a Fugle-man, or 
pattern Monk, who instructed the rest 
by his example. He was also called 
Titulus} 

The Formaria was the Nun men- 
tioned in the Benedictine Rule, "as the 
senior fitted to gain souls," who was, 
says Du Cange, (as the Formarius 
among the Monks,) "to watch and in- 
spect them curiously/ 5 

Thus terminates the account of the 
Monastic Officers; and such was the 
effect of Puritanical principles, that 
the very names became odious; and, at 
the dissolution, the Dean and other 
officers of Exeter Cathedral requested 
to be styled by the scriptural appella- 
tions of pastor and preachers. 111 

cium confessoris et prsedicatoris, quorum officium 
est penitus educere peccatum de corde, ut postea 
pariat novum hominem. MS. Gardiner, in Pemb. 
Coll. Libr. Oxf. (ancient sermons.) 

h Visitor's letter in Fuller's Ch. Hist. b. vi. 315. 

1 Ex Regula. k Dugd. Monast. ii. 758. 

1 Du Cange. 

m MS. Harl. 604, f. 135. a. This was one of 
those Genevese Innovations (see Aerius Redivivus, 
p. 208 — 14), which terminated (as all religious 
zeal, except that of promoting the virtues of Chris- 
tianity, will ever do) in faction, blood, sedition, 
and harassing, if not overturning, the State, — a 
direction it instantly assumes, when it has raised a 
strong party. 

L 2 



148 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



The duties of Monks were these, "To 
pray, groan, and weep for their faults ; 
to subdue their flesh ; to watch and 
abstain from pleasures ; to bridle their 
tongues, and shut their ears from vani- 
ties ; to guard their eyes, and keep 
their feet from wandering ; to labour 
with their hands, exult with their lips, 
and rejoice at heart in the praises of 
God ; to bare the head, bow down, 
and bend the knees at the feet of the 



Crucifix ; to obey readily, never to 
contradict their Superiors ; to serve 
willingly, and assist speedily, the sick 
brethren ; to throw off cares of 
the world, and attend to celestial con- 
cerns with their utmost endeavours ; 
not to be overcome by the arts of 
Satan, and do every thing with pru- 
dence/^ The following Leonines form 
a summary. 



a MS. Bodl. Archiv. Seld. D. 52. 

INSTRUCTIO PERBREVIS PRO NOVITIIS IN SACRA LIRINENSI INSULA. 

Attende Tibi. 



Monacho, ad quid venisti 
Quare mundum reliquisti, 
Cur flocum induisti 
Et mundi pompam despexisti. 
Nonne ut Deo servires 
Et cor tuum custodires ? 
Cum ergo sic vagaris 
Et vana meditaris ? 
Multum peccas evagando 
Tempus perdis otiando : 
Evagari non est tutum 
Otiari grande vitium ; 
Fabulando perdis prsemium, 
Operando vitae taedium, 
Orando quaere subsidium, 
Mane ergo in ccenobio, 
Vive caste sine proprio. 
Fuge, tace cum Arsenio, 
Sede solus cum Machario, 
Saepe ora cum Antonio, 
Jejuna cum Evagrio. 
Vigila cum Hilario, 
Sustine dolores cum Laurentio, 
Despice honores cum Vincentio, 
Dilige Jesum cum Ignatio, 
Fer rerum damna cum Eustachio, 
Confitere Christum cum Tibnitio, 
Resiste Draconi cum Honorato, 
Perfere injurias cum Donato, 
Lege, scribe cum Hieronymo, 
Canta hymnos cum Ambrosio, 
Stude, doce cum Augustino, 
Disce mori mundo cum Gregorio, 
Perseverando in Monasterio, 
Imitare Sanctum Benedictum, 
Serva verbum tibi dictum, 
Bonum est laborare manibus, 
Melius orare cum fletibus, 
Quaere Jesum cum Bernardo, 
Cum Hugone, cum Richardo, 
Praemiaberis cum Confessoribus, 



Si abnegaveris te in omnibus 

Cave curiosa legere 

Quae possunt mentem distrahere, 

Stude vitia cognoscere, 

Et viriliter eis resistere : 

Ambula cum simplicibus, 

Adhaere innocentibus, 

Benefac tibi contrario, 

Supplica pro adversario, 

Et eris gratus Dei filio, 

Ac dignus sanctorum consortio, 

Monachorum est orare, 

Gemiscere et plorare, 

Pro suis defectibus, 

Carnem suam castigare, 

Vigilare, jejunare 

A voluptatibus ; 

Linguam refraenare, 

Aures obturare 

A vanitatibus : 

Oculos custodire, 

Pedes praemunire, 

Ab excursibus. 

Manibus laborare, 

Labris exultare, 

Corde jubilare, 

In Dei laudibus : 

Caput denudare, 

Basse inclinare, 

Genua curvare, 

Crucifixi pedibus ; 

Prompts obedire, 

Nunquam contra ire, 

Suis majoribus; 

Libenter servire, 

Cito subvenire 

Infirmis fratribus : 

Curas mundi abjicere, 

Coelestibus intendere 

Totis conatibus. 

Ne vincaris a Daemonio, 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



149 



Omnia fac cum consilio, 

Et non facile aberrabis, 

Nescis enim quarndiuhic eris, 

Certum est quod morieris, 

Nunquam tamen desperabis, 

Esto internus Deo devotus, 

Mundo ignotus 

Et eris semper leetus. 

Multum tibi vibs et despectus, 

Fratri tuo pius et subjectus. 

Maturus et facetus. 

De bonis Deo tribue gloriam, 

De malis pete veniam, 

Omnem remittens injuriam, 

Sicque per Dei Gratiam 

Pervenies ad Patriam, 

Post bujus saecli miseriam, 

Ubi Jesu et Maria, 

Iu summa gaudent Gloria 

Cum tota cceli curia: 

Ad quam post multa pericula, 

Perducat Agnus sine macula 

Cui laus per aeterna secula. 



Amen. 



To Monastic perfection it seems 
eight things were requisite ; keeping 
the Cloister, silence, no property, 
obedience, no detraction or murmur- 
ing, mutual love, performance of 
the appointed duties, and confession. 3 
Besides these, they were to be imita- 
tors of Christ, love an abject and lowly 
habit, be cloathed in vile garments, 
walk simply in discipline, 5 upon rising 
to Mattins meditate upon their ac- 
tions; to bear patiently the injuries of 
others; to him that struck upon one 
cheek, to turn the other, — so that such 
a change of character would be pro- 
duced, "that they who were prone to 
quarrels, and passionate, would now 
bravely endure the curses of others ; 
not be broken by contempt or injury, 
but bear all things with a resolute 
heart, and preserve their peace of mind, 
and rest amidst reproaches ;" d to con- 

a MS. Roy. Libr. 7. A. iii. sect. Quod sint 
octo, Sec. 

b Christi imitatorem debetis agere ; abjectum et 
humilem babitum amare ; pannis vibbus involvatur ; 
in disciplina simpbeiter ambulare. MS. Harl. 
209, f. 19. 

c Ex quo surgit ad vigilias vitse suae tempora per 
monita singularia debet cornputare. MS. Harl. 
103, f. 114. 

d Quod ab omni perfectione longe distat, qui 
non verbum aliorum pacienter non sustinuit ; per- 
cutienti te in maxillam prsebe ei alteram ; non 
repunget per verba contumeUosa, &c. MS. Harl. 
1750, f. 105, b. andf. 113, b. 

Ad lites facilis fuit bic ; ad jurgia praeceps ; 

Fortiter alterius nunc maledicta feret ; 

Non nunc contemptus, non nunc injuria frangit ; 



verse of and meditate the last judg- 
ment, wait for the Lord, and dread the 
anger of the judge; 6 never to laugh, 
because being charged with the sins of 
the people as their own, constant 
lamentation was their duty ; f to have 
no private friendships, because preju- 
dicing the concord of the community, 
by generating parties, and causing 
detraction ;S to be silent and solitary, 
because dead to the world ; h to use 
private prayer, when under a vicious 
impulse, because such prayer reminded 
them of their crimes, and made them 
think themselves more guilty ;i to have 
respect for their habit in act, speech, 
and thought; not to be querulous, an- 
gry, slanderous ; not to regard rashly 
the lives of their Superiors, nor to be- 
come rebellious, by beholding their 
faults ; and to walk with their heads 
down, k a custom borrowed from the 
Pharisees. 1 

" Because," says Bouthillier de la 
Ranee, "the Monks inflame themselves, 



Omnia robusto corde molesta feret ; 
Pax animi quies inter convicia duret.* 

MS. Bibl. Reg. 8. A. xxi. 

e "Expecta Dominum, formida Judicis iram." 
MS. Bibl. Reg. ut sup. Dev. Vie Monast. i. 542, 
543. 

f Id. i. 574, 5. Bernard reproacbes tbe Clug- 
niacs for calling raillery and laugbter an bonest and 
allowable recreation. CacJiinnatio diciturjucundi- 
tas. Dev. Vie Mon. iii. 274. 

s Dev. Vie Monast. i. 339, 342, and Monast. 
Anglic, ii. 783. 

h Dev. Vie Mon. ii. 20. 

1 Quociens quolibet tangitur vitio, totiens adora- 
tionem (sic) se subdat. Smaragdi Diadema Mona- 
cborum. MS. Bodl. 2401, p. 2, b. Cum enim 
oramus, ad memoriam culparuni reducamur, et 
magis reos tunc nos esse cognoscamus. Id. 3. a. 
Admonendus est monacbus, ut reverentiam babitus 
sui in actu, in locutione, in cogitatione sua semper 
circumspiciat. p. 19, a. Qui querulus est, mona- 
cbus non est ; qui iracundus est, monacbus non 
est ; qui fratri suo detrabit, monacbus non est. 
Id. 33, b. Ammonendi sunt subditi, ne prreposi- 
torum suorum vitam temere, si quid eos fortasse 
agere reprehensibibter viderint, reprebendant ; 
ammonendi sunt subditi, ne cum culpas prseposito- 
rum considerent, contra eos audaciores fiant. Id. 
37, b. 

k Reg. Bened. &c. 

1 Pictet. Serm. sur Matt. xv. 9. 



* It is to be observed, that reproacbes and con- 
tumelies were purposely used to prevent pride, and 
create fortitude. Dev. Vie Monast- ii, 20, 



150 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



and grow angry by discourses, we see 
very rarely honesty, respect, and cha- 
rity among them : they divide by dif- 
ference of sentiment ; they contract 
friendships and intimacies quite human, 
which are the ruin of holy and true 
charity ; or rather they canvass, when 
conversing together, the faults of their 
brethren, which renders them contemp- 
tible in their eyes, and hinders their 
esteeming them.^a Upon these ac- 
counts silence was a principal duty of 
a Monk, the rule of which obtained, 
during divine service, meals, mid-day, 
between Mattins and Prime, and after 
Complin. The Prior, Sub-prior, Deans, 
Master of the Novices, and Cellarer, 
had a right from office to speak. On 
account, however, of the danger of 
nightly interviews, to speak after Com- 
plin was subject to the severest punish- 
ment ; and, in some places, the law 
was so strict, according to Bernard, 
that it did not permit a person labour- 
ing under blame, to excuse himself, — 
or one who entertained suspicions, to 
divulge them. b We are even told of 
persons who carried stones in their 
mouths, that they might learn to ob- 
serve duly this injunction of silence. 
Lindwood gives the following curious 
reason for silence : " Silentium. Quod 
est justitiee cultus." d In consequence, 
therefore, of this prohibition from ex- 
hortation, advice, and every kind of 
communication, it became necessary 
that they should do by signs what they 
could not effect by words. e These 
signs were not optional, but transmit- 
ted from antiquity, and taught like the 
alphabet ; f the use of them was, how- 
ever, prohibited when silence was com- 
manded ; for, says Nigell de Wireker, 
in his Monita Moralia : 



a Dev. Vie Monast. i. p. 336. 

b Dev. Vie Monast. ii. 220, 1, 2, 3. 

c Qui lapides in ore portabant, ut taciturnita- 
tem addiscerent. MS. Harl. 1750, f. 105, b. " Aga- 
thon the Abbot (says the Golden Legend, ccxxxv. 
b.) bare thre yere a stone in hys mowthe tyll that 
he had lemed to kepe scylence." 

d Prov. 207. 

e Dev. Vie Monast. i. 308. 

f Id. ii. 221. " Signa scire studeant omnes ne- 
cessaria ;" (let all endeavour to learn the necessary 
signs.) M. Paris, 403. See too sect, Novices. 



Si jubet ut taceas, statua. taciturnior esto, 
Nee redimas signis verba negata tibi.s 
As statues still, if ordered so, abide, 
Nor seek by signs the speech that is denied. 

Notwithstanding this, the Monks did 
so, for they were perpetually making 
unnecessary signs in the Choir, Refec- 
tory, and other undue places. 11 

However ridiculous this may appear 
to us, signs, to a given extent, have, in 
relation to speech, the expedition of 
short-hand writing, and might be made 
in part to supply the place of universal 
language. With relation to the Monks, 
they admirably contributed to the pre- 
servation of order. Du Cange has 
preserved a catalogue of them; and 
the following are extracts : 

Fish. Waive the hand like a fish's 
tail in the water. 

Book, Extend the hand, and move 
it as a leaf is moved. 

Milk. Press the little finger on the 
lips, because an infant sucks milk. 1 

There were signs not only for per- 
sons and things, but actions and qua- 
lities, as seeing, hearing, good, evil, &c. 

Crashaw, who seems to have known 
that the felicity which is so rarely at- 
tainable in divine poetry, by attempts 
at the sublime, is well substituted by 
blending taste and elegance with fer- 
vour, thus describes the duties of a 
religious house : 

A hasty portion of prescribed sleep, 
Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep, 
And sing, and sigh, and work, and sleep again, 
Still rolling a round sphere of still returning pain ; 
Hands full of hearty labours, pains that pay 
And prize themselves ; do much that more they may; 
And work for work, not wages : let to-morrow's 
New drops wash off the sweat of this day's sorrows. 
A long and daily-dying life, which breathes 
A respiration of reviving deaths. 

The state of reason among the 
Monks may be ascertained from some 
Old Rhymes of the Monastic Life, 
published by Fabricius. k The mecha- 
nical modes of avoiding some bad ha- 
bits are thus pourtrayed. 

,« MS. Cott. Jul. A. vn. 

h Cap. Gen. Northampt. anno 1225, sect. De 
Hospitalitate. See too sect. Refectory. 

' Du Cange, v. Signum. See also the signs used 
in the nunnery of Syon, co. Middx. in Aungier's 
Hist. of,Hounslow and Syon Monastery > 8vo. 1840. 

k Bibl. Med, ^Ev. y. vii. 913, geq. 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



151 



Omnem horarn occupabis 

You shall occupy ever hour 

Hyrnnis, psalmis ; et amabis 

In hymns [and] psalms ; and you shall like 

Ten ere silentium. 

To keep silence. 

Super hoc orationem 

Besides this, you shall love 

Diliges et lectionem, 

Prayer and reading, 

Nutricern claustralium. 

The nurse of cloisterers. 

Habens vestitum et victum, 

Having raiment and food, 

Ut fert Apostoli dictum, 

As the Apostle's saying directs, 

Nihil quseras amplius ; 

You must not seek any thing further ; 

De colore ne causeris, 

Do not talk of the colour, 

Si fit vilis tunc lceteris, 

If it be mean, then be glad, 

Et ficeris sobrius. 

And thus you will be sober [minded] . 

Cave ne fis curiosus 

Take care not to be foppish 

In vestitu, nee gulosus 

In [your] dress, nor dainty 

In diver sis epulis. 

In [your] different meals. 

Sic non eris somnolentus, 

Thus you will not be lethargick, 

Nee in potu vinolentus, 

Nor vinolent in your drink, 

Nee vacabis fabulis, 

Nor waste your time in gossiping ; 

Nimis est periculosum 

It is too dangerous 

Esse claustralem verbosum, 

For a cloisterer to be verbose, 

Cum silere debeat ; 

When he ought to be silent ; 

Joci epiidem sunt ferendi, 

Jests, indeed, must be endured, 

Nunquam tamen referendi, 

But never repeated, 

Quos proferre pudeat. 

For it may be disgraceful to utter them. 

Maxims derived from the Vulgate 
may be seen in detail in Stellartius, p. 
351. Some of the Epistles and Gos- 
pels are unnoticed, and Tobit sub- 
stituted where these had been better 
quoted instead. 

Monachism was an institution 
founded upon the first principles of 
religious virtue, wrongly understood 
and wrongly directed. If Man 
be endowed with various qualities, 
in order to be severely punished 



for using them, God is made the temp- 
ter of Vice, and his works foolish. If 
voluntary confinement, vegetable-eat- 
ing, perpetual praying, wearing coarse 
clothing, and mere automatical action 
through respiration, be the standard 
of excellence, then the best man is 
only a barrel-organ set to psalm tunes. 
Sleep, according to this plan, ought to 
be virtue ; but the fact is, that it is not 
possible to pursue a system exclusively 
directed to suppress faults, without 
j reducing the character to a caput mor- 
tuum. a Mere innocence was, indeed, 
the qualification for a Monk ; and the 
error is, that all its merit was limited 
to that. The result of such system is 
the ruin of the public and patriotic 
character, and the elevation of An- 
thony and Francis over Leonidas and 
Socrates ; for the consideration was 
not what sacrifices any one made for 
the good of society, but how many 
dinners he could go without in a week ? 
what aversion he had from matrimony? 
and how many prayers he said in a 
day ? but, alas ! superstition has its 
basis in the will, and therefore Mona- 
chism never succeeded but when it 
was an act of volition. As soon as its 
duties became mechanical operations, 
the work was performed, and the prin- 
ciple disregarded, while the heart, left 
open to the world, was constantly 
prompting those aberrations, which 
naturally result from the opposition 
of will to duty. Shame is of no avail, 
where security is to be gained from co- 
parceny, evasion, or secrecy. Hence 
the vices of the Monks : gluttony, their 
grand crime, is the natural pleasure of 
those who are debarred from other en- 
joyments, whether by physical or moral 
causes. What these crimes were, in 
the greater part, the " Inquirenda circa 
Convention" of Henry's visitors will 
show, These were, — of what rule ? of 
what age ? what vows ? what local sta- 
tutes ? whether of good company b and 
living? whether defamed for inconti- 

a See this position admirably illustrated in the 
Edinburgh Review for 1313, p. 186. 
b See sect, Refectory. 



152 



MONKS; NUNS, &C. 



nence^ apostasie, padarastiap heresie, 
treason/ perjury, or any noted crime? 
Whether possessed of property un- 
known to the Superior ? Whether 
they carry on any bargaining, chevi- 
saunce, or such worldlie business for 
their own profit ? d Whether they use 



a Very indelicate proofs of this occur in MS. 
Harl. 913, f. 2. MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 115, 
b. The principal pretence for the entrance of wo- 
men was for washing the clothes. Monast. Anglic. 
ii. 566 ; and there is a visitation injunction, that 
they should not take any women to carry pots into 
the Infirmary, Refectory, or place called Jordayn 
chamber', "ne aliquas suinant mulieresin Infirmar. 
Refector. vel domum vocatum jordayn chameram 
ollas deferre." MS. Mus. Ashmol. 1519, f. 84, a. 
Women were admitted into the Dormitory. Id. 97, 
a. Mulieres de incontinentia, seu furto suspectae 
(women suspected of incontinence or theft) are 
mentioned in the same MS. 25, b. By the order 
of Henry's visitors, no women were to enter but 
by leave of the king or his visitors ; nor no entrance 
to the house but by the "great forgate." MS. 
Cott. ut supr. 

b Hincmar of Rheims (Epist. 600 b. c.) speaks 
of " negotiatorem clericum aut inhonestis aut lucris 
turpibus intuantem." Of superstition, apostacy, 
treason, incest, adultery, &c. &c. see the above 
MS., f. 147, 8, 9, et passim. I decline giving the 
passages. Whatever may have been invented, and 
much was so no doubt by Henry's visitors, still 
ancient visitation injunctions (MS. Ashm. ut supra, 
&c.) say nearly the same ; and it would be absurd 
to suppose, that, in so large a body of men, and in 
the middle age, instauces of vice, in its most gross 
form, should not sometimes be found, especially as 
the institution made no provision for satiating ap- 
petite ; and the Monks had fastidious ones, as will 
soon appear, which occasionally, we know, conquer 
all restrictions. 

c Yel sunt furatores, -v Or they are thieves, 
Vel faciunt numismata ( Or fabricate the mo- 
regni, > ney of the realm, 

Proditores. j Traitors. 

MS. Cott. Cleop. B. n. p. 59. Invectivum 
contra Monachos, &c. t. R. II. In the 
Notices des MSS. are more proofs of coin- 
ing. 
A Monk of Peterborough stole jewels, &c. to 
give them to women in the town. Gunton, 55. 
Thomas Strutt sold privately the pix of the Monas- 
tery of Drax (vendidit clam pixidem monas.erii, 
&c.) MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 154, a. Furtum 
(theft) is mentioned in the general confession of 
crimes which might happen to Monks in MS. Cott. 
Calig. A. i. Henry, Prior of Tupholme, was very 
ingenious in making false money. Monast. Angl. 
ii. 629. One William Pigun, a Monk of St. Al- 
ban's, forged the Convent seal. M. Paris (1st), 
1048. Ed. Watts. 

d Quia nonnulli firmas ecclesiarum maneriorum 
et aliarum possessionum, quse mercatoris instar 
obtinere dicuntur, recipiunt indecenter. (Because 
some indecently receive the farms of Churches, 
Manors, and other possessions, which, like a 
tradesman, they are said to acquire, &c.) MS. 



any unlawful art, as nycromancye, sor- 
cery e, alchemistry, e &c? Whether 
they leave the house by day or night 
without leave ? f Whether they have 
any children lying with them by night, 
or conversant with them in the day- 
times, and for what purpose?? Whether 
any one of them be a diser, carder," 



Harl. 328, f. 7, a. Whether they keep any bake- 
houses, or farms in hand against the statutes ? MS. 
Harl. 791, f. 25. Ne aliquid emant seu vendant, 
j ni quod erit abbate mandatum, necessitate vesti- 
j mentorum excepts! ; i. e. let them not buy or sell 
any thing, except clothes, without the Abbot's 
order. MS. Ashm. 1519, f. 68, a. See the ar- 
I tide Obedientiaries. Lyndw. Const. Othob. tit. 
43, and Stat. 21 Henry VIII. which mentions 
! their tan-yards, dealing in wool (the Cistercians 
j especially), cloth, &c. They used to sell wine at 
; taverns, by deputy, some Lay-brother, or other. 
I Monast. Anglic, ii. 746. It was certain, too, that 
j they used to buy corn, wine, or other moveable 
• goods, that they might afterwards sell them dearer, 
without the knowledge of their superiors. Biblio- 
theca Praemonstrat. i. p. 835. The Benedictine 
Constitutions given before say more on this head. 

c W. Thorne (col. 2146) mentions, upon some- 
thing being stolen, the application of the necro- 
mantic art, to discover the thief, without success. 
Chaucer's Canon the Alchemist, &c. &c. is well 
known. 

f Quia nonnulli monachi etiam juniores oppor- 
tunitate captata extra septa monachorum absque 
societate honesta evagandi, etiam nulla, super hoc 
obtenta licentia, se gesserunt pluries indecenter. 
(Because even some of the junior Monks, watch- 
ing their opportunity, have rambled alone out of 
the precincts of the house, and many times behaved 
themselves indecently.) MS. Harl. 328, p. 5. 
These Charter-house Monks (say Henry VIII.'s 
visitors) "would be called solitary ; but to the clois- 
ter-door there be above xxiiii keyes in the hande of 
xxiiii persons, and it is lyke many letters, unpro- 
fitable tayles and tydings, &c. comin ther by reason 
therof ; also to the buttery-door ther be xii sundry 
keyes in xii mens hands." Cott. MS. Cleop. E. 
iv. f. 35, a. The Nuns of St Helen's, London, 
were forbidden to have keyes of the posterne door. 
Monast. ii. 896. To punish this evagation it was 
ordered, that, after their return, they should take 
the last rank, lose their vote in chapter, and so 
continue till pardoned. M. Paris, 1096. They 
were not to leave the cloister for 15 days in Cap. 
Gen. Northampt. a 1444. C. 10, de Praelatis ; by 
which chapter it appears, that the inferior officers 
took the liberty of granting this licence of going 
out, and that in these rambles the Monks used to 
call upon religious or sa;culars by the way. 

s Cohibendum est ei pueros nutrire niei conces- 
sum fuit episcopali auctoritate. " He (the monk) 
is ,not to bring up children unless by episcopal au- 
thority.*' MS. Cott. Jul. A. ix. f. 12, b. (De 
vita Reclusorum.) 

h Barclay says (Ship of Fooles, 91, a.) 
" The monkes think it lawful for to play, 
When that the abbot bringeththem the dice.'' 
In the Confessionale generate de casibus qui com*. 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



153 



tavern-haunter/ or hunter , b or resorter 
to susj3ecte places, or with suspect 
persons? Whether they sit up late, 
or be surfett or overlyen with drinke ? c 

muniter possunt acciderc monachis. MS. Cott. 
Calig. A. i. f. 223, a. is peccavi — in ludo taxillo- 
rum, seaccorum. " I have sinned in playing at 
draughts and chess." Rob. Holcot, a Dominican, 
wrote a book of the game of Chess, and of course 
played at this game. (Bale, ed. 4to, 1554, p. 148, 
b.) But, in the Statutes of the Savoy Hospital, it 
is enacted, " Statuimus, &c. quod nullus magister, 
vicemagister, capellanus perpetuus vel conductitius, 
aut aliquis alius minister, vel servitor hospitalis 
prsedicti, pro tempore existens, ad talos, cartas, vel 
aliquos alios jocos illicitos et prohibitos, infra hos- 
pitale prsedictum, clam vel palam, quoquo modo 
ludet. Poterint enim omni tempore ludere ad 
scaccos, et tempore Nat. Dominicee, per quadra - 
ginta dies ad tabellas, sine fraude, et blasphemia, 
et magna pecuniarum summa. ; i. e. We enact, 
&c. that no master, vice-master, perpetual or tem- 
porary chaplain, or any other minister or servant 
of the aforesaid hospital, for the time, shall in any 
manner, openly or privately, within the aforesaid 
house, play at dice, cards, or other illicit and 
prohibited games. But they may at all times play 
at Chess, and at Christmas for forty days at 
draughts, so as they do not cheat, blaspheme, and 
lose much. Cott. MS. Cleop. C. v. xxiiii. a. In 
the inquiries touching the chaplains and other mi- 
nisters of the Savoy, It. ii. is, " Whether any of 
theym be a fighter, a seditious person, a drunkard, 
a common haunter of taverns or alehouses, or a 
dicer, carder, or walker abrode by night ?" MS. 
Harl. 791, f. 33. 

a The Peterborough monks^haunted a tavern near 
the house. Gunton, 55 ; and in MS. Ashmol. Mus. 
1519, p. 70, a. is, "Tabernasque frequentando, ad 
matutinas cum fratribus saepius non consurgendo." 
(By frequenting taverns, and seldom rising to mat- 
tins with the brethren.) 

b The fondness of the Monks for hunting is well 
known, and ancient, for it is reprobated by Am- 
brose (Lopez Epitom. ii. p. 4.) ; but, notwithstand- 
ing this, it is to be observed, that the purchase of 
freewarren was made, sometimes at least, on a dif- 
ferent account, as is plain from the Abbot and 
Convent of Warden, who bought this right of the 
king, because the servants of the neighbouring 
noblemen tore up their fences, run over their 
ploughed lands, and beat and abused the brothers, 
who were employed in cultivating them, and the 
keepers (custodes). M. Paris, 740. But it is fur- 
ther to be noted, that, though hunting for plea- 
sure's sake was a mortal sin, even in a Layman ; 
for health or necessity, or need of body (indigentia 
corporis), it was allowable in a clerk (Athon. 147.) ; 
and accordingly we find that Bishop Juxon was a 
keen sportsman, and said to have kept the best 
pack of hounds in England (Acta Regia, 787.) 
The Monks we should call poachers; for "per 
noctem venaciones et piscationes " (huntings and 
fishings by night) are inhibited in MS. Ashmol. 
Mus. 1519, f. 71, b. ; but to stay up all night in 
this sport is mentioned in Xenophon's Cyropse- 
dia(B.p.l35.),andSmythe'sBerkeleyMS.,asusual. 

c In MS. Ashm. Mus. 1519, one Wm. Glou- 
cester is described as staying out all night, " biben- 



Whether they sleepe together in the 
Dormitory, or eate together in the Re- 
fectory ? d Whether they keep silence 
in the Cloister, Dormitory, and at 
meat/ and observe their fasting and 
other ceremonies ? f What shete and 
shirte, linen and woollen, they lie in, and 
what bed, whether of feathers or wool? 
Whether they attend the divine ser- 
vices ?S how many professed and not 
professed, and how many the founda- 
tion required ? What wages eche of 

do et rixando" (drinking and quarrelling), f. 39, a. 
(See sect. Dormitory.) In MS. Harl. 913, f. 58, 
is the Passio unius monachi secundum Bacchum, 
where mention is made of a Monk, who, postquam 
incaluerat mero (after he had got warm with wine), 
timens ne per continentiam morbus perrepat ad 
vitalia, ' fearing lest by continence disease should 
creep to his vitals/ went out to find some one to 
cure his languor, and at length meets a woman sit- 
ting, &c. To the same purpose is the Missa 
de potatorilus, or parody on the Mass. (MS. 
Harl. ut supra.) " Intrabo ad altare Bacchi. Ad 
vinum, quod laetificat cor hominis. Confiteor Deo 
Baccho omnipotent et reo vino coloris rubei, et 
omnibus ciphis, et vobis potatoribus, me nimis gu- 
lose potasse, per nimiam nauseam rei (sic) Bacchi 
dei mei potacione, sternutacione, oscitatione, max- 
ima, mea cipha, mea maxima cipha. Ideo precor 
beatissimum, et omnes ciphos ejus, et vos fratres 
potatores, ut potetis pro me ad dominum reum Bac- 
chum, ut misereatur mei. Misereatur nostri ciphi- 
potens Bacchus, et permittat nos perdere omnia 
vestimenta vestra, et perducat nos ad vivarn taber- 
nam ; qui bibit et potat per omnia pocula poculo- 
rum." f. 11, b. It does not admit of translation. 
Nigell Wireker says of the Black Canons : 
Causa datur vino, debetur culpa bibenti, 
Cum caput aut membra csetera mane dolent. 
The fault, due to the drinker, is laid to the wine, 
when the head aches on the morning. — Spec. 
Stult. 

tl Aut in domibus seecularium edent, aut come- 
dent infra leugam a Monast. [Or eat in the houses 
of Saeculars within a league from the house.] MS. 
Mus. Ashm. 1519, f. 93, b. See Dormitory and 
Misericord. 

e Quia, &c. comperimus evidenter, quod silen- 
tium inter vos minime observatur. MS. Harl. 328. 
f. 2. i. e. "Because we find clearly, that silence is by 
no means observed among you," &c. It was owing 
to the negligence of Abbots. Reyn. Append. 195. 
Nigell Wireker says of the Grandmontines, « Ab- 
dita claustra colunt, et nulla silentia servant." 
" They live in secret Cloisters, and keep no silence.' ' 
Spec. Stult. MS. Cott. Tit. A. xx. &c. 

f The book of Visitations of Abbeys, in MS. 
Ashm. Mus. 1519, is full of items, implying 
breaches of these. 

■ & Nee licet alicui de conventu, qui horis et mis- 
sis his interesse tenetur, ab eisdem quomodolibet 
absentare ; i. e. no one of the Convent, who is 
bound to be present at these hours and masses, 
ought, on any account, to be absent from the 
same. MS. Harl. 328, f. 2, but see sect. Church, 



154 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



them hath a yere ? a What lyveries, 
or allowances of meat and drink ?b 
How do they bestowe the surplus of 
these ? c What guests resorte to the 
tables ; to what use the revenues for 
these tables were bestowed ? Whether 
the Abbot used to receive the revenues 
of vacant benefices ? What portions 
were reserved for the use of the house ? 
Whether inventories were always kept 
between the Abbot and Convent of all 
the goods, &c. belonging to them ? 

The Inquirenda, as to the Cistertians 
and Preemonstratensians, were, " Whe- 
ther they labour and till theire owne 
ground, or any parte thereof, with 
theire hands ; d what procurations they 
paid ; what the paternal house }" e 

Further Inquirenda were, whether 
women usith and resortyth myche to 
this monastery bybackewayes, or other- 
wise ? (i Whether ye cloo were your 
religiouse habite continually, and never 
leve yt of but when ye goo to bedde ? 

a Vesturse Prioris et Convent. Master Prior, 
three quarters of a year, 40s. Subpriorand Monks, 
do. 205. Noviciate, 10s. Nichols's Manners and 
Expences of Ancient Times, 288. By the decre- 
tals of Wolsey (a 1519), "60*. per annum was to 
be paid to every Canon Priest, and 30s. to a Canon 
Layman.'' Monast. Anglic, ii. 566. The reli- 
gious had pensions, or money (forbidden in the 
Augustinian Rule), from their parents or others, 
to buy clothes ; and some held that this was allow- 
able with the consent and knowledge of the Abbot, 
(Athon. 205.) Nor could he dispense with a sta- 
tute that allowed money for vestments, unless it 
tended to injury. Lyndw. 205. It seems that the 
Chamberlain was in the habit of giving, and the 
Monks of taking, money in lieu of vestments. Cap. 
Gen. Northampt. a 1225. sect. De Vestimentis. 
The general chapter of 1338 allowed money to be 
given and taken for small necessaries. Reyn. Ap- 
pend. 102. (They had also legacies. Lowth's 
Wykeham, 391.) But, notwithstanding these al- 
lowances, there was a great want of punctuality in 
the payment of them by the officers. Cap. Gen. 
Northampt. a 1444. C. v. sect. De Officiariis. 

b At the visitation of Peterborough it was or- 
dered that one Reginald Bray should have a due 
proportion for number of dishes. Gunton, 55. 
Steevens's Monast. i. 485. 

c See Almonry. 

d The Cistertians professed to follow the Rule 
of Benedict in its literal strictness, of which ma- 
nual labour formed a part; and Nigell Wireker says 
of them, "They make every body work, lest any 
one should be idle or at leisure among them." Om- 
nibus injungunt operas, ne desidiosus, aut quando- 
que vacans inveniatur ibi. Spec. Stult. MS. Harl. 
2422, &c. 

• MS. Harl. 791, f. 19, 23. Often in print. 



Whether any of them have left the 
house since profession, and during his 
absence changed his habit ?" f The 
veracity of miracles was also to be 
strictly ascertained.? 

Other crimes were common, as quar- 
rels and their most dreadful conse- 
quences. Detraction and reproach for 
faults," you lie, swearing by the body 
of Christ; 1 and striking one another 
with their fists or knives. k Giraldus 
says, u One thing is very common ; 
whilst the Monks indulge themselves 
in immoderate drinking, contentions 
ensue, and they begin fighting with 
the very cups full of liquor. 1 In a 
quarrel between an Augustinian Canon 
and a Carmelite, the former cut off the 
hand of his opponent with a sword. m 
Two Trinitarians in London, having 
frequently quarrelled about some goat's 
wool, one murdered the other. 11 Three 
murders ensued among them in the 
year 1248.° Monks that struck one 
another, were to be punished by their 
respective Abbots, not sent to the Ro- 
man see.P 

Their gluttony was excessive. Who 
does not know the noble institution of 

f MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 146, f. 22. A 
Monk of Westminster is upon record, who, hav- 
ing obtained the heirship of his parents, resided 
upon it like a Layman. Monast. Anglic, i. 293. 

s Two Cistertian Abbots at Canterbury were 
boasting of the miracles of S. Bernard, upon 
which John Planeta told a story of Ms attempt- 
ing to cast a devil out of a young man, when the 
event was, that he pelted the Abbot with stones, 
pursued him from street to street, and at last, 
when the people had caught and bound him, kept 
his eyes savagelv fixed on him. MS. Bodl. Wood, 
ii. p. 219. 

h Reyn. Append. 190. 

' Nomen Dei saepissime in vanum assumpsi (I 
have very often taken the name of God in vain) is 
(in the " Confessionale generale de casibus qui 
communiter accidere possunt monachis) in MS. 
Cott. Calig. A. i. p. 223. 

k Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1444, ch. x. De 
Novitiis, &c. 

1 Unum plerumque contingere solet, ut dtmi 
potionibus monachi immoderatis indulgent, ad 
rixas et pugnas persilientes cum ollis ipsis liquore 
plenis se invicem percutiunt. MS. Cott. Tiber. 
B. 13. (Gir. Cambrens. contra Excess. Mona- 
chorum.) 

m Manum ense fratris Carmelitse infortune ab- 
scidit dextram. MS. in the Ashrnolean Museum, 
1519. f. 99, b. 

n M. Paris, p. 799. 

Id. 653. p Id. 405. 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



155 



Monks ? says an old poet : the fame of 
them has pervaded the whole world : 
they consume all things, and yet they 
are not satisfied with the birds of 
Heaven, and the fishes of the sea ; 
they seek many dishes, and a long time 
in eating them. a Another adds, "Feed 
them but well, they care for nothing 
else."b Nigell de Wireker charges 
them with hiding many things, and 
pocketing provisions to eat on fast 
days. c And one of their own body 
says, "All fowlowe our owne sensya- 
litye and pleser; and thys religyon, as 
I suppose, ys alle in vayne glory /" d 

They were equally remarkable for 
the fastidiousness of later eeras. C( In 
this present age/' says Peter of Blois, 
iC religious men, and persons of the 
sacred order, contend about the num- 
ber of their meals. If a religious finds 
that he has a quick pulse, or an in- 
flamed urine, or a dull appetite, he 
consults medical men, searches out 
spices, makes electuaries, and uses no 
salt-fish, which are not seasoned with 
cinnamon, cloves, and other spices. 
Such a religious is rather a disciple of 
Epicurus than of Christ. This, he says, 
hurts the head; this, the eyes ; this the 
stomach ;this, the liver ; butter is of a con- 
vertible nature; beer occasions flatu- 
ence; cabbages are melancholy; leeks 
inflame choler ; peas generate the gout ; 
beans excite phlegm; lentils hurt 
the eyes ; cheese is worst of all ; to stand 
long at prayer weakens the nerves ; to 
fast hurts the brain ; to watch drys it." e 

a Quis nescit quod monachorum nobilis ordo ? 
In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum : 
Omnia consumunt, nee eos possint saturare 
Volncres coeliet pisces maris, 
Fercula multa petunt, et longurn tempus edendi. 
MS. Harl. 913, f. 55. 
b Si bene pascatur, monachus nil amplius optat. 
MS. Cott. Titus, A. xx. f. 86, a. 
c Multocies carnes et pinguia ssepe vorare, 
In feria sexta saepe licebit eis, 
Pellicias portant, et plura recondita sumant, 
Quae non sint sociis omnia nota suis. 
Spec. Stultor. MS. Harl. 2422, and Cott. Tit. 
A. xx. 

d MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 161, a. 

e Hodie viri religiosi et sacri ordinis professores 

de ferculorum numerositate contendunt ; si invenit 

religiosus circa se aut pulsum velocem, aut urinam 

iacensam, aut hebetem. appetitum ; consulit medi- 



"I boasted much of nourishing my 
person, the bloom of my countenance, 
and whiteness of my skin," f is one of 
the articles of Monastic confession; 
and Simon of Gaunt complains that, 
" theo thet shculden one leenen hore 
soule mid heorte bereosunge? and 
fleshes pinunge vorwurded fisiciens 
and becomes h leche." » 

Wicliff charges the Monks with stu- 
dying the constitutions and physiology 
of women in books, and thence teach- 
ing, that to lie with them in the absence 
of their husbands, was very wholesome 
against various diseases. k 

For this purpose, as well as for pro- 
fit, they studied or professed the medi- 
cal art; "for to beon so angressful 
hereafter," says the last ancient writer, 
"nis nout god I wene, and God and 
his deciples speken of foule lechekrefte 
and ypocras (Hippocrates) and galien 
(sic) of licomes hele (bodily health) ; 
the on thet was bett ilered of jhu cristes 
deciples seid that fleshes wisdom is 
dead of the soule." 1 Giraldus Cam- 
brensis describes "two vagabond 
Monks, who, without throwing off 
their habit, yet leading a beggarly life, 
committed various enormities, and en- 
deavoured to make a trade of the me- 
dical art, though they had never stu- 
died Hippocrates or Galen, or heard 

cos, examinat species, electuaria facit, nullis utitur 

I salsamentis (salted food, I suspect, not salt fish) , 

! quae non sunt condita ex cinnamomo et gariophillo, 

i et nuce muscata (nutmeg). Religiosus talis dis- 

! cipulus potius est Epicuri, quam Cbristi. Hoc 

i capiti, inquit, hoc oculis, hoc stomacho, hoc epati, 

| nocet ; butirum convertibilis est naturae ; cervisia 

ventos facit, caules melancholici sunt, porri chole- 

ram accendunt ; pisa guttam generant, faba con- 

stipat ; lentes exctecant ; caseus universaliter est 

pessimus ; diu ad orationem stare nervos debilitat ; 

jejimare cerebrum turbat ; vigilare desiccat. MS. 

Roy. Libr. 8 F. XVII. 

f Gloriabar valde de rostro colendo, faciei can- 
dore, albedine cutis. MS. Cott. Caligula, A. i. 
f, 221. 

s I suspect for bereavinge. 
h Body doctors. A. Sax. 
1 MS. Cott. Nero, A. xiv. f. 202, a. Not to 
indulge his person too much is among the duties 
of Monks in MS. Harl. 103, f. 114, b. 

k De Hypocrisi ap. Bale, v. i. p. 475. The 
well-known story of St. Louis refers to this pre- 
tended remedy of disease, which the Monks con- 
verted into a license for illicit pleasure, 
» MS. Cott, ut sup. 



156 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



or read a single lecture on the subject, 
either in the schools, or elsewhere." 8 

Avarice, accompanied with villany, 
also characterised them. A certain 
knight had left 100 marks by will to 
a certain house, and lay there sick; 
upon getting well, the Monks, that 
they might not lose the money, plotted 
his death by poison or suffocation. 1 * 
" The Churches of Wales," says the 
same writer, "are deprived of their 
parishioners by them, both living and 
dead;" c and he also adds instances of 
a small house of Nuns being oppressed 
by them/ and of an Archbishop cheat- 
ed out of his books which he had 
collected from his juvenile years. e 
Barclay reproaches their avarice for 
begging alms over the country, though 
wealthy ; f and Nigel Wireker says of 
the Cistertians, who are elsewhere 
censured for singularity, avarice, and 
little communication with the world, 
that u they wished their neighbours to 
have landmarks, and none them- 
selves.'^ Nor from this avarice can it 
excite w r onder, that, as says an antient 
poet, "they neither loved, nor were 
beloved by any one."h 



a Monachos duos domorum suarum desertores 
gyrovagantes, efc de loco ad locum circumeundo 
discurrentes, nee tamen habitum abjicientes. Hii 
vero inter excessus enormes varies et multos, qua- 
tinus trutannicam vitam suam victumque lucro- 
sam efficere possent, et pecuniosam artis medicina- 
lis peritiam profited non minus imprudenter quam 
impudenter prsesumpserunt, cum turn Hippocra- 
tem aut Galenum ceeterorumque librorum faculta- 
tis illius, nunquam in scolis, aut alibi lectionem 
unam audissent aut legissent. MS. Cott. Tiber. 
B. xiii. (no pages.) 

b Quatinus propter pecuniam tantam, qua domus 
illorum per ejus convalescentiam fraudaretur, aut 
venenato poculo militem extinguerent, aut subitis 
eundem et violentis oppressionibus subfocai*ent. 
MS. Cott. Tib. B. xiii. 

c De communi ccenobiorum Wallise vitio per 
quod baptismales ecclesie parochianis suis sicut vivis 
sicut mortuis per monachos destituuntur. lb. 

lI De domo monialium exili et exigua per mona- 
chos opulentos oppressa. Id. See too Monast. 
ii. 785. 

e Thesaurum librorum suorum quos a puerilibus 
annis usque in provectam setatem tarn studiose 
collegerat. Id. f Ship of Fooles, 119, b. 

« Agrorum cupidi nunquam metas sibi poni ; 
Vicinis vellent, &c. Spec. Stultor. Monast. 
Anglic, ii. 61. 

h ' ' Dum vi vvint monachi, nee amant, ncc amantur 
ab ullo." MS. Had. 913, f. 55. 



They were detractors, disobedient, 
proud, dissatisfied, rebellious, and 
otherwise criminal. Alas! says Alfred 
of Rievesby, I am ashamed to say how 
they get together, and abound in de- 
tractions and contentions. For, to be 
silent of lovers of the world, whose 
whole discourse is of gain or baseness ; 
what shall I say of them, who, having 
professed to renounce the world, only 
dispute and converse of the belly, I will 
not say the delight of it, but burden. 1 

They were in the habits of persecu- 
ting some of their prelates or brethren, 
from hatred or ambition, or of malici- 
ously defending others . k They used 
to exalt their heads above their Seniors, 
through the negligence of Abbots. 1 
Acharius, Abbot of Peterborough, used 
often to say in the Convent, " My 
Lords, my Lords, if some of you had 
not opposed me, I should have done 
you much good," m and visitation in- 
junctions enjoin obedience to the Ab- 
bot. 11 They were extremely deceitful, 
and their society was dangerous through 
the frauds they practised.P Their pride 
was conspicuous in their treatment of 
the clergy. Roger, Prior of Lantony, 
wishing to celebrate Mass at Canter- 
bury, modestly addressed a Monk 
whom he happened to meet; the other, 
turning his head back, and looking at 
him scornfully and askant, asked him, 
if he was not a secular clergyman ? 
Yes, replied the Prior's companion ; 
Go, then, said the haughty Monk, and 
hear or say Mass in some of the Cha- 
pels of the town.q This shows how 

1 Bibliotheca Patrum, xiii. p. 16, col. 2. 

k Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1225. 

1 Reyn. Append. 195. 

m Hist. Coenobii Burgensis, p. 107. My Lord 
was the title of a Monk as well as of an Abbot. 
Chaucer, Gervas, i. 415, 1. 44, &c. 

n U-t fratres sint obedientes mandatis sui proprii 
preelati. MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519, f. 71, b. 

° Rara fides fratrum, &c. Nigell Wirek. Spec. 
Stult. of the Cistertians. 

p De monachi societate dolosa. De librorum 
emptione subdola, seu potius ademptione non per 
abbatis sz'mplicitatem, sed magis monachorum du- 
plicitatem et dolositatem. MS. Cott. Tib. B. xiii. 

i Qui cum monachum quendam loci ejusdera 
sibi tunc obvium, super hoc humiliter conveniret ; 
ille statim caput et collum cervicose retorquens, 
eumque superciliose nimis et; valde oblique respii 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



157 



absurd the Monastic maxim was, that dif- 
ferent orders were instituted, that whilst 
the lesser paid deference to the greater, 
and the latter returned it with affection^ 
true concord might ensue. a They 
were flatterers of the rich, and gallant 
to the ladies. b Sometimes so much so, 
that, says Giraldus, the townsmen of 
Lannaneveri, on account of their wives 
and daughters, which the Monks every 
where and openly abused, prepared 
themselves for leaving the place en- 
tirely, and departing to England.^' 
When they were at leisure they were 
always revolving temporal matters. d 
<e Sometimes," says an antient sermon, 
addressed to them, "when a Monk 
goes into the country under pretence of 
health, he returns to his place of nati- 
vity, there to breathe a free and accus- 
tomed air for some days, and perhaps 
bring back some present to the bre- 
thren from their friends. When a 
Monk goes out under pretence of 
serving the Convent, he becomes an 
importunate suitor to great persons, 
calling profit, however made, piety ; 
and, when he returns, he carefully 
inquires the hour of the day, lest he 
should be obliged to go to the common 
table and Church ; and though he pro- 
fesses to do all this from public good, 
the true cause is, he does not like the 
half-boiled vegetables of the Convent, 
and wine mixed with water, and thinks 
silence and sitting in the Cloister a 
prison. He wants to eat better, drink 



ciens, Nonne vos, inquit, Clerici estis ? Canonicus 
respondit, Utique sumus ; et ille, In villam igitur 
ite, et in aliqua capellarum exteriorum inter cleri- 
cos missam audiatis vel dicatis. MS. Cott. Tiber. 
B. xiii. 

a Ordines constituit esse distinctos, ut dum 
reverenciam minores pocioribus exhiberent, et 
pociores minoribus dilectionem impenderent, vera 
concordiafieret. MS. Roy. Libr. 8 F. IX. (nopages.) 

b Bernard in Dev. Vie Mon. ii. p. 18. They 
were often attendants upon the ladies, and rode 
about with hounds and a servant. Wart. i. 282. 

c Dicens etiam quod Burgenses hii de castello 
eodem (Lannaneveri) propter uxores suas et filias 
quibus monachi passim et palam abutebantur, vil- 
lam suam ex toto relinquere, et in Angliam recedere 
jam parabant. MS. Cott. Tib. B. xiii. 

d Pravse monachorum mentes temporalium rerum 
tumultus intra semet ipsos versare non cessant, 
etiam cum vacent. MS. Bodl. 2401, p. 19, a. 



more savorily, speak more freely, lie 
more softly, watch more seldom, pray 
less. Thus staying in the Cloister, he 
does not even suppress the vice of 
curiosity," e a term which among the 
Monks signified restlessness, and in- 
vestigation of the lives of others, a 
common fault/ " He who is singular," 
says the same antient sermon, "despises 
others, and conceives himself alone 
able to live piously. He sows dis- 
cord and hatred among the Monks by 
whispers ; from some he detracts ; the 
advantages he openly depreciates ; his 
hand is against every body, and every 
body's against him."s Others became 
negligent in the following manner : 
For two months, three, or a year, they 
began to have a certain boldness ; after 
that boldness, security; then becoming 
negligent, they began first to love their 
own will, and through this, unwilling to 
follow that of another. This caused 
them to ask the reason, when ordered to 
do any tiling against their will. Then 
they complained of the heat and cold, 
and how they should fare in that sea- 
son. When any thing upon an urgency 
was ordered them, they began to mur- 
mur, or asked for various articles of 
good cloathing, or thought others had 

e Quandoque enim sub obtentu sanitatis egre- 
diatur monachus ad provincias, ad natale solum 
redit, ut ibi liberum et consuetum aera bibat per 
aliquos dies, et forte aliquam refectionem referat 
fratribus ab amicis. Quandoque sub obtentu 
utilitatis fratrum egreditur monachus, ad principes 
terrse rogator importunus, questum quocunque fac- 
tum appellans pietatem; cum redierithoram ingres- 
sus sui diligenter explorat, ne oporteat eum ingredi 
ad communem fratrum mensam, et orationem 
communem ; et cum obtentu boni hsec se facere 
proponat, verior tamen causa quod olera claustri 
semicocta fastidit et vinum aqua mixtum; silen- 
tium, sessionem in claustro carcerem reputans. 
Appetit enim edere cautius, bibere sapidius, loqui 
licentius, cubare mollius, vigilare parcius, orare 
tenuius. Sic nee manens in claustro vicium curiosi- 
tatis condit. MS. Harl. 1712, f. 23, a. b. 

f Nam ille monachus alienum agit negotium, 
qui curiositatis vitio suam oblitus vitiosam discu- 
tere, vitam alienam investigare sollicite curat. 
Inquietudo ergo quae et alio nomine curiositas 
appellatur. MS. Bodl. ut sup. f. 56, a. 

z Qui singularis est aspernit cseteros, &c. Su- 
surro in fratribus fomitem odii et seminaria dis- 
cordias ministrans. Quibusdam latenter detrahit, 
quorundam beneficia patenter decolorat ; manus 
ejus contra omnes, et manus omnium contra eum. 
MS. Harl. ut sup. 23. 



158 



MONKS, NUNS, &G. 



better than themselves. They were 
ambitious and intriguing. An ass is 
introduced into the Church, says Nigell 
Wireker, a silly animal, that wishes to 
have a different and larger tail than 
nature has given him. Thus a reli- 
gious, not content with his condition, 
no more than the ass with his tail, 
scorns the claustral life, in which he 
ought to continue to the end, seeking 
by every method to be plucked away 
and transplanted from it ; that he may 
be able to increase himself with a new 
and long tail, lay hold of a Priory or 
Abbacy, and insert nearer him a long 
suite of relatives; who, afterwards, 
wherever he goes, may rejoice in 
dragging his tail for him.b He also 
adds, of Abbots, with an allusion to 
their first state, that they are harassed 
with envy and ambition ; that their 
first labour is to rise ; and that they 
are next tormented with worldly cares, 
and that they may gain wealth. Their 



a Iste aliquando per duos menses et tres et per 
annum incipit habere quandam audaciam ; post 
audaciam securitatem ; post securitatem devenit 
negligens, discit vel incipit experiri quod dicit 
sapiens, qui modica spernit paulatim decidit. 
Incipit prirno amare propriam voluntatem, et per 
hoc incipit esse piger ad sequendam voluntatem 
alterius. Inde incipit quserere causarn quum 
aliquis ei prsecipit aliquod contra voluntatem suam. 
Tunc de frigore et de sestu causatur, et per quam 
se nutrierit in isto tempore. Quum aliquod ei pre- 
cipitur propter aliquam necessitates, incipit 
imrnurmurare, aut quserit bonas tunicas, bona pallia, 
bonam cappam, bonam cucullam, et incipit semper 
considerare pannos aliorum, et saepe putat quod alii 
habeant meliores quam ille. MS. Harl. ut supr. 
f. 34, b. 

b Introducitur ecclesise asinus animal, sed stoli- 
dus, volens caudam aliam et ampliorem quam 
natura contulerit contra naturam sibi inseri. Qui 
non contentus condicione sua, sic nee asinus cauda 
su&, vitam claustralem in qua deberet usque in 
finem perseverare, ut salvus fieret, omnino fastidit, 
quserens omnibus modis qualiter ab ea evellatur et 
transplantetur : ubi nova cauda et prolisa possit se 
accrescere, ut prioratum vel abbatiam possit sibi 
apprehendere, ubi parentum suorum sequelam 
copiosam possit proprius inserere. Et postea qui 
caudam pro se quocunque ierit trahere gloriantur. 
Prsef. Spec. Stultor. MS. Harl. 2422. 
c Invidise stimulis vexantur et ambitiosis 
iEstibus assiduis precipueque tribus : 

Primus ut ascendant labor est ; sequitur peri- 
turum 
Indiscretus amor, cura ; quiete carent : 

Msec omnes ardent; hac omnes febre laborant, 
Hsec tenet impium postpositura Deum ; 



ignorance was so great, that they did 
not often understand what they read, 
were unacquainted with the canonical 
hours which they sung, and as they 
were reading, put short accents for long 
ones. d Among Henry Abbot of War- 
den's reasons for desiring to resign, 
was the following : " Item, they be in 
nombre xv brethren, and except three 
of them, non understand or knowe their 
Rule, nor the statutes of ther reli- 
gion/' Nor did they wish to learn; 
for he says before, "Item, forasmuch 
as I did perceave ignorance was a great 
cawse whi that theis my bretherne was 
thus farre out of good order, and in 
continuall inquietnesse, to thentent 
that I wolde somewhat induce them to 
understanding, I caused [a] boke of 
gramer to be bowghte for eche of theim, 
and assigned mi brother to instructe 
them : but ther wolde com non to him 
but one Richard Balldock and Thomas 
Clement." 6 They were fond of Law. 
Peter of Blois says, "There is not a 
seat of justice in which religious men 
have not a concern, and eagerly obtrude 
themselves ; for, deceiving the world 
with a specious appearance of religion, 
they are wretchedly deceived; and, 
while dead to the world, barter for and 
hunt after what belongs to it." f It 
seems they were in the habit of attend- 
ing to law concerns for parents and 
friends, and being bail for Seculars.? 
Their neighbourhood was dreaded 
much, perhaps on account of this liti- 
gious spirit, since they took the pro- 
perty of others away. h Pawning was 

Hinc ut opes habeant summa virtute laborant 
Possideantque brevi tempore parta diu. 

Spec. Stult. 

li Item quia nonnulli commonachi et fratres, 
non intelligentes quid legant, horasque prorsus 
ignorantes dum psallunt, ut legunt accentum brevem 
pro longo ponunt. MS. Harl. 328, f. 3. b. 

e MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. 163. a. 

f Non est hodie aliquod forum judiciale, aut 
venale, cui se viri religiosi non immisceant, et cui 
se importunissime non imponunt. Mundum enim 
quadam simulatoria religione fallentes falluntur 
pessimal et mundo mortui negotiantur et venantur 
quse mundi sunt. MS. Bibl. Reg. 8. F. XVII. 

s Monast. ii. 751. 

h Voces cunctorum vicinia quos premit horum, 
deflent atque gemunt quod eis monachi sua demunt. 
MS. Ashmol. Mus. 8496, p. 133, b. 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



159 



not an uncommon thing among them. a 
From the levity of indolence, they 
indulged themselves in writing lam- 
poons, 13 or hunting after news; c and, 
to conclude this catalogue of faults, that 
they might go on with impunity, per- 

De his qui auguria et diviniationes et 
sacrilegia attendunt. e 

Nullus sibi percantatores adhibeat. 
Nullus ex vobis observet qua die de 
domo exeat, qua die iterum revertatur : 
ridiculosas sternutationes considerare 
et observare nolite. 

Sed quociens vobis in quacumque 
parte fuerit necessitas prosperandi, sig- 
nate vos in nomine Christi, et simbo- 
lum et orationem dominicam ndeliter 
dicete, securi de Dei adjutorio iter agite. 
Et quia quando supradieta omnia sacri- 
legia Deo vobis inspirante contempnere 
et despicere ceperitis, moleste hoe ac- 
cepturus diabolus, quod vos videt de 
amicitia et societate sua discedere et 
sacrilegia per quge vos decipiebat con- 
tempnere, ob aliquas nequitias vobis 
factas aut infirmitatem aliquam inmis- 
surus aut aliquod animal aut per mor- 
tuum aut pervagationem ablaturus, quia 
ad vos probandos hoc fieri permittit 
Deus, ut agnoscat utrum ad ipsum fide- 
liter venistis.— F. 97- a. 

Symbolum et orationem dominicam 
et ipsi tenete et filiis vestris ostendite. 
— F. 111. b. Scitote vos fide-jussores 
pro ipis ad Deum exstitisse, et ideo tarn 
illos qui de vobis nati sunt quam illos 
quos de fonte excipitis semper castigate 
atque corripite. — Ibid. 

In ecclesia stantes nolite ssecularia 
expectare, sed lectiones divinas patien- 
ter audire. Qui enim ecclesia verbo- 



a In dispositione fore prselati ad solutionem 
suoruni debitorum et redemptionem librorum per se 
impignoratorum. MS. Ashni. Mus. 1519, p. 15, b. 
Wm. Burton pignorasset et in vadum, &c. tres 
libros. Id. f. 25, b. 

b Nonvult eum (Benedictus) ad satiras offensas 
in ruga nasum contrahere. Nonvult eum ad sati- 
ras scribendas studium applicare ; — transgressores 
dne Bernarde ejus instituti existunt qui talibus 
scriptis ex otio intendunt. MS. Ashm. Mus. 
1285, p. 3. 

c Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, soon after a treaty 



secuted those who led better lives than 
themselves. cl How superstitious and 
profane they and others were, appears 
from a MS. in the Bodleian Library, 
marked 2401, and entitled " Smaragdus 
Diadema Monachorum." 

Of those who attend to auguries, and 
divinations and charms. 

Let no one apply to fortune-tellers. 
Let no one take notice what day he 
goes out, and what day he returns : 
do not consider or notice ridiculous 
sneezings. 

But as often as you have any neces- 
sity of prospering, mark yourselves in 
the name of Christ, and enjoy the 
Creed and Lord's Prayer, set out on 
your journey, secure in the favour of 
God. And because, when from God 
inspiring you, you begin to despise all 
the above charms, the Devil takes it 
ill, because he sees you depart from 
his friendship and society, and despise 
the witchcraft by which he deceived 
you, on account of wickedness com- 
mitted by you, may send some disease 
or take away some animal by distem- 
per or straying, because God permits 
this to try you, whether you have faith- 
fully come to him. 

The Creed and Lord^s Prayer both 
learn yourselves and teach your chil- 
dren. Know, that your godfathers 
promised this, and therefore always 
chastize and correct, not only your own 
children, but those whom you have re" 
ceivedfrom the font. 

While standing in the church, do not 
attend to secular matters, but patiently 
listen to the divine lessons, for he who 

had been made, upon entering a Carthusian mo- 
nastery, was instantly accosted with, " What are 
the conditions of 'the peace / '" Gruteri Spicileg. ii, 
234. from Surius. 

d And if that one live well and virtuously, 
In way of grace, like as he ought to go, 
The remanent assaile him with envy, 
And him oppresse with grievous payne of wo, 
Until he folowe like as the other do. 

Barclay's Ship of Fooles, 256, b. 
e It appears from the Fathers, in passages too 
frequent to be cited, that all these superstitious 
practices were derived from the Heathens. 



160 



MONKS, NUNS, &C« 



rari voluerit, et pro se, et pro aliis 
malam redditurus orationem dum ver- 
bum Dei nee ipse audit, nee alios audire 
permittit.— F. 112. a. 

Omnes viri quando ascessuri sunt ad 
altare, lavant manus suas, et omnes 
mulieres nitida linteamina exhibent, ubi 
corpus Christi accipiant. — F. 114. a. 

Among their levities was a fondness, 
quite inconsistent with their profession, 
for sights and amusements. Giraldus 
tells a story of a Monk who ran out to 
see a whale, and who, his feet slipping, 
tumbled into a pit, and was lugged out 
with ropes and poles hooked with 
iron. a Minstrels, whom some houses 
maintained on purpose, contributed to 
their amusement at festivals and other 
times ; b though it is said they were dis- 
gustful to the severer Orders, particu- 
larly before the Norman conquest, 
when they were considered as brethren 
of the Pagan Scalds. c To these are to 
be added Bearwards. d The Friars 



a Ex vapore pinguedinis monstrt illius lubrice 
magis effecte, lapsis pedibus utrisque retro cadens 
subito totus in apercionem illam resupinus intra- 
vit ; a qua cum funibus et perticis longis ferro 
aduncatis vix tandem ferro extractusemersit. MS. 
Cott. Tib. B. xiii. sect. De Monacbo ad mon» 
struosam belluam inspiciendum occurrente, &c. 
These exhibitions were probably more interesting 
than now ; for, in the wood-cuts of Ambrose 
Parey's Works, p. 619, representing the manner of 
cutting up the whale, a drummer and fifer are 
standing upon it and playing ; drum-beating and 
bell-ringing being the signal given to the inhabitants 
of Aquitain, at sight of a whale. The lard was 
boiled, and eaten with fish in Lent, that gormand- 
izers might have something to serve them instead 
of flesh, then forbidden. The houses of the fish- 
eaters were built with their bones, and orchards 
fenced with them. Ibid. 

b Warton's History of English Poetry, i. p. 92. 

c Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, i. xli. 
lix. Ed. 2. 

d War ton, ut sup. The Romans kept bears 
tame under a keeper, and upon lamps we see show- 
men leading them ; one among others is mounted 
upon a ladder (Encyclop. des Antiq. v. Ours.) 
Bearbaiting is alluded to by Apuleius; and it was a 
pastime in much vogue here, generally upon Sun- 
days after service. (Strutt's Sports, &c. xxxix.) 
The maintenance of bears was a tax sometimes 
imposed upon the Feudal Vassal ; and the public 
ovens paid, at every baking, each a loaf to the 
Ursarius, or Instructor, for which the tenants were 
to see the sport upon holidays. (Du Cange, v. 
Ursarius, Ursorum pastus.) Kings made presents 



likes to talk in the church must give 
but a bad account both for himself and 
others, whilst he neither hears the word 
of God himself nor permits others to 
do it. 

All men, when about to go to the 
altar, wash their hands, and all the 
women put on clean clothes when they 
take the sacrament. 

Minors of Francis having passed into 
England., and taking their way towards 
Oxford, stopped at a Benedictine Ab- 
bey, where a young Monk, thinking 
them, by their ridiculous habit, to be 
some jugglers, ran immediately to give 
notice of it to the Abbot, who, in hopes 
of having some good sport, bad them 
come in. But they having made them 
to understand that they were poor 
Friars, who came to implore their cha- 
rity, the Abbot and Monks commanded 
they should be turned out of doors. e 
There were even Masquerades in Ab- 
beys, as far back as the time of Gre- 
gory of Tours. f 

The Inquirenda, in the visitation of 
Nuns, were these ;% whether they used 
to have intercourse with strangers, men 
and women, without licence, especially 
in secret places, 11 and in the absence of 
their sisters ; whether used to go any 
where without the gates ;i whether any 



of them, and a Lady sent one to a Tournament, 
for the reward of him who behaved best. M. Paris, 
113, 223. Of sports with bears, see further Strutt's 
Sports, 182, 193, 194, and Horda, iii. 150. The 
bear formerly existed in Britain, Archseologia, x. 
162. Our taste for bear-baiting and boxing was 
that of the Roman vulgar : 

Media inter carmina poscunt 

Aut Ursum, aut Pugiles. 

Horat. L. ii. Ep. i. v. 185. 

e D'Emilliane's Monastical Orders, p. 169. 

f Du Cange, v. Baroatoria. 

« Items similar to those of the Monks are omitted. 

h See Monast. Angl. ii. 895. " Item, that non 
of your sisters bring in, receave, or take any Lay- 
man, Religious, or Secular, into the chambre or 
any secrete place day or night, nor with thaiminsuch 
private places to commune, ete, or drinke, without 
lycense of your Prioresse." Monast. Anglic, i. 910. 
It seems, from the 7th Item of the Constitutions of 
the Nuns of Sopewell, that the taylors of the house 
were the persons thus invited into private places. 

1 In Monast. Anglic, ii. 896, is mention of 
" Nonnes having keyes of the posterne doore," 
and "moche comyng in and owte unlefulle tymys." 
The Capitularies of Charlemagne say, M In some 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



161 



do not use her habit continually out of 
her cell ; whether any familiarity with 
religious or secular priests, not near 
kinsmen. Item, whether any of them 
use to wryghte any letters of love a or 
[lascivious fashions] b to any person, or 
receive any suche, and have any prevye 
messengers comyng and resorting to 
them with tokens or gifts from any 
maner seculer person or other f whe- 
ther they talked without leave with any 
manner of persons, "by gratis or backe- 
windows ;" d what sporte or game they 
used in their playing days ; e how often 
they were confessed; whether any of 
them were suspected of incontinence ; f 



small Monasteries, where the Nuns are without 
Rule, we order, that their Cloisters be well locked* 
and that they do not write or send Love-letters. 
Du Cange, v. Winileodes. 

a The Nuus of St. Helen's were prohibited from 
receiving letters, or sending them, without license 
of the Prioress, and witnesses to attest the pro- 
priety of the contents. Dugd. Monast. ii. 895. 

b Blank in orig. but filled up from MS. Cott. 
Cleop. E. iv. p. 19. 

c A very ancient writer says, "Nuns support 
and exercise their bodies in woollen work (lanificio) 
(which, and cooking, was of Egyptian origin), 
and deliver the garments to the Monks, receiving 
in return what is needful for their support (victui). 
Isidor. de eccles. Offic. L. 2, C. 15, p. 213 (a 630). 
Hence perhaps the custom of presents. Secular 
women, going backwards and forwards, are forbid- 
den the Nuns of Sempringham, as likely to be 
messengers rather of evil than good. Monast. ii. 
699. The Gilbertine Nuns were not to make 
purses except of white leather, and without coloured 
silk. Monast. ii. 784. See Chapter of " Ancho- 
rets," &c. 

d "No lokingnor spectacles owterwarde, through 
the wiche ye my the falle in worldly dilectacyone. '' 
Monast. ii. 805. The 5th Constitution of the 
Nuns of Sopewell orders, at certain times, " les 
fenestres devers la cuysine clos. ' ' 

e " Also we enjoyne yow, that alle dauncyng 
and revelling be utterely forborne among yow, 
except Christmasse, and other honest tymys of 
recreacyone among youreselfe, usid in absence of 
Seculers in alle wyse." Monast. ii. 896. Itine- 
rant players, principally boys, used to be admitted, 
and play mysteries before them. Warton's English 
Poetry, iii. 324. The well-known instance of 
Juliana Bernes shows skill in hunting, hawking, and 
field sports. 

f This crime they committed from the earliest 
periods; (Charlton's Whitby, 39.) and they des- 
pised the statutes made to correct it. Athon. 155. 
A visitor at a Convent of Gilbertine Nuns near 
Lichfield, " founde two of the said Nunnes ; one 
of them impregnant (supprior domus) : anothyr 
a yonge mayd." Also at another, called Harwolde, 
" wherein was iiii or v Nunnes with the Prioress, 
one of them had two fake children, another one, 



whether stubborn, incorrigible, sedi- 
tious, a brawler, envious, yrefull, given 
to voluptuousness and sloth ;8 whether 



and no mo." MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 131. It 

is well known, that the Bishop of Lincoln, about 
1251, in his visitations, ordered the nipples of the 
Nuns to be squeezed, that he might be physically 
convinced of their chastity. Various amulets for 
pregnant women were common in Nunneries : 
thus the Nuns of Gracedieu had part of St. Fran- 
cis's coat, deemed beneficial to lying-in women 
(partem tunicse Sancti Francisci, quae ut creditur 
parturientibus conducunt). Nuns of St. Mary of 
Derby had part of the shirt of St. Thomas, in 
veneratione apud multoties pregnantes. Those of 
Wrelsa, apud Mewse, had the girdle of Bernard, 
" prsegnantibus aliquando vestitum," (sometimes 
worn by breeding women.) MS. Cott. ut sap. 
147, 150, &c. &c. The Nuns of Yorkshire took 
potacions " ad prolem conceptum opprimendum." 
Cott. MS. ut sup. f. 115, b. Sometimes the chil- 



dren were murdered 



Hie cum juvenis esset 



decorus forma, instinctu antiqui hostis sororem suam 
illico amore concupivit, et ex ea prolem procreavit;" 
which offspring " propriis manibus suffocavit ne ad 
homines incestus ipsius perveniat ; et reversus 
(sic) ad peccatum suum secundo et tertio de eodem 
fratre concepit atque partus suffocavit." MS. 
Harl. 2385, f. 56, i. e. " The monk, being young 
and handsome, fell in love with a nun, and had 
children by her, which children, even to a second 
and third parturition, she suffocated." Some of the 
laws against this were as follows : " To carry off a 
nun was 1205. fine — Leges Aluredi, 1. 31, in Lamb. 
Whoever indecently handled her breasts, if she 
was unwilling, double the penalty (5*.) of doing so 
to a Lay-woman. Id. c. 33. By the laws of 
Edmund, made a 946, the ravisher was punished 
like a homicide with the fine of all his fortune (74/.) 
In the penitentiary canons of Edgar, a guilty nun 
was punished with a twenty years penance (Can. 
32.) with perpetual penance and imprisonment 
among the Gilbertines (of which Alfred of Rievesby 
relates a shocking instance, copied by Bale), with 
severe discipline; (MS. Harl. ut sup. f. 55, b.) and 
by the 13th of Edward I. it was three years impri- 
sonment for carrying off a nun, besides satisfaction 
made to the convent. Sir Osbert Giffard, for steal- 
ing two nuns out of Wilton abbey, was ordered 
never to enter a nunnery more ; not to be in the 
presence of a nun without leave of his diocesan ; to 
go thrice naked in his shirt and breeches to Wilton 
church, but not in the presence of the nuns, and 
be each time beaten ; and so likewise in Salisbury 
market, and Shaftesbury church ; not to wear the 
insignia of knighthood, but russet with lamb or 
sheep fur, and calf-leather shoes, nor use a shirt 
after he was beaten ; and this until he should have 
been three years in the holy land, or the king recal- 
led him. Tit. of Honour, p. 790, and Weever. 
s Bertram Walton says (Invective against Nuns) : 
" But there was a lady, that hizt dame Pride, 
" In grete reputacion they her toke, 
" And pore dame Meekness sate beside, 
" To her unethys ony wolde loke, 
" But all as who seyth I her forsoke, 
" And set not by her nether most ne leste, 
" Dame Ypocrite loke upon a book,, 

M 



162 



MONKS NUNS, &C. 



they do understand first the articles of 
their faithe, and then the Rule ; a whe- 
ther surfeit with drink ; b how many 
howsholders are in their house, and 
who keepeth them, c Besides these 

" And bete herself upon the brest : 
" I wolde have sene dame Devowte 
" And sche was but with few of that route, 
" For dame Sclowth and dame Vayne Glory 
" By vilens had put her owte. 
" And than in my harte I was full sorry, 
11 That dame Envy was there dwelling, 
" The which can selth strife in eny state> 
" And another ladye was there wonnyng 
"That hight dame Love inordinate, 
" In that place both erly and late, 
" Dame Lust, dame Wantonness, and dame Vyce, 
" They were so there enhabyted, I wotte 
" That few token hede to Goddys service." 
He afterwards complains that " Dame Envy, 
' ' In every corner had great cure ; 
" That another lady there was 
" That hyzt dame Disobedient." 

MS. Cott. Vesp. D. ix. f. 182, 3. 
" By this hede you schall understond suche 
cloistereris, the whiche thinken that thei ben more 
discrete, more witty, more kunning, than other ; 
and therfor alle such natural witty cloistereris ben 
more lothe to be spoiled, and to be made naked 
from her owen willes than other simple cloistereris, 
ffor ther suche live witte is ther is ofte moche 
indignacion, and ofte tymes conflicte multiplying of 
many wordis, and pride of konnyng, yei have gret 
indignacion, whan thei ben in any wise withstond 
from her owen willes, thei weine that thei have 
grete wrong gif other ben clepid to counseil and 
not yei." MS. Bodl. Laud. D. 52. (Regulse 
inclusarum.) " I forbede not wordis of recreation, 
yough I forbede noyous wordis." Id. 

a Monast. ii* 895. " where one of the intelli- 
gent sisters is ordered to teach the other." 

b The drinking after complin of the Prioress of 
Rumsey has got into all our familiar books. 
Among the injunctions to the Convent of Appleton, 
a 1489, is one; " Item, that non of your sisters 
use the alehouse, nor the water syde, where course 
of strangers dayly resorte.'' Monast. Anglic, i. 
910. In the inquiries touching the Savoy, it 
was inquired, "whether any of the susters do 
cherish them moste that hath any money, and 
causeth them to spende the same when they be 
within at good ale or otherwise, wherby the same 
might have any pleasure or profit theymselff. Item, 
whether any of the susters be comenly drunke." 
MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 33, b. 

c MS. Harl. 791, f. 22. " Also we ordeyne and 
injoyne, that nunnes have ne receyve noo schuldrin 
with hem into the house forseyde, but yif that the 
profite of the comonys turne to the vayle of the 
same house.", Monast. ii. 896. In the injunction 
to the nuns of Appleton, they are to have noe per- 
hendinancers or sojorners, but children and old 
persons, by which profit may come to the place. 
Monast. i. 910. No man or woman in a secular 
habit was to be received to make a stay in the 
house of Nun-Cotun, unless any one slept there 
for the sake of hospitality. Monast. i. 925. Item, 
that the prioresse suffer no man to lodge under the 



faults, they were finical in their hair- 
dressing^ fond of tales and gossiping ; 
apt to give the lie, and strike one ano- 
ther. "Tide of her tonges," says Piers 
Plowman, "and must all secretes tell;" e 
fond of flattering, stroking, and smooth- 
ing themselves ; f receiving male visi- 
tors with the salutation of "my love," 
and adding minstrelsy and dancing ;g 
affected ; h used to adorn the walls of 
their chambers with pictures, for such 
are mentioned by Alfred of Rievesby 
(see Anchorets), and the Rule of C&sa- 
rius for Nuns orders no wax tablets or 
other pictures to be affixed to the 
walls ;* delighted in keeping dogs, k par- 
rots, 1 and geese, hens, and other birds ; 
for it seems they used to stay at the 
grange for the nourishment of animals, 
and that two would eat from one loaf, 
that they might keep the other whole 
for their dumb dependants. 111 What- 
ever, nevertheless, the faults of the 



dorter, or onn the backside, except such sad per- 
sones by whom the house might be holpyne, and 
secured without slander or suspicion. Id. i. 910. 

d Ric. Hagulstad. p. 327 — tortura capillorum et 
compositione capillorum. 

e Fol. xxiii. Ed. 2d. of 32d Ed. (See Percy's 
Ball, and Herbert's Ames.) 

f MS. Cott. Nero. A. 3. f. 15, b. 

s Wart. Emend. V. i. p. 11. 

h MS. Cott. Nero, A. 3, p. 19, b. s C. 42. 

k Chaucer's Prioress kept a number of small 
dogs; 39 loaves of coarse bread to the dogs in every 
manor per week. Monast. i. 498. 

1 Nigell Wireker mentions an unlucky parrot, 
who had the habit of telling tales : he says, by 
poisoning him they taught him to die earlier than 
to speak. 

Ssepe mala 
Phittacus in thalamum domina redeunte puellas 

Prodit, et illorum verba tacenda refert ; 
Nescius ille loqui ; sed nescius immo tacere 

Profert plus sequo Phittacus oris habens ; 
Hinc avibus crebro miscente aconita puella, 

Discat ut ante mori quam didicisse loqui ; 
Sunt et aves alise quae toto tempore vitse 

Relligiosorum claustra beata colunt. 

Spec. Stultor. 

Ver Vert, or the Nunnery parrot of Gresset, 
translated by Cooper, is well known, and modern. 

m Monast. i. 925. ii. 768. The rage for keeping 
domestic animals was very strong among our ances- 
tors. Rob. Betun, Bishop of Hereford, says on 
his death-bed, " I had in my house a black white 
footed dog, a domestic tame deer, a four-horned 
ram, cranes and peacocks, all which I used to feed 
from my table." (Angl. Sacr. ii. 318.) We hear 
also of a tame crane who stood before the table at 
dinner, and knelt and bowed his head when a Bishop 
gave the Benediction. (Id. 400.) Tame deer 



MONKS, NUNS 5 &C, 



163 



poor Nuns were, says Nigell Wireker, 
"they have this virtue, which wipes 
away every thing,, incessant tears, that 
are penitently poured before the throne 
of God : whilst they are thus contrite, 
they merit pardon, and obliterate every 
crime they commit. " ab 

Nuns were sometimes styled u La- 
dies, Reverend Ladies,'^ but burial 
entries exist where they are called 
Dames, as Dame Ann Preston, SlcA In 
a Monastery at Brabant, the Canon- 
esses were created Knightesses by some 
noble Count, with a drawn sword 
struck upon the back, and the usual 
words. e 

To redress these evils in the conduct 
of the religious/ the expedient was 



(as in Virgil) were very common among the Anglo- 
Saxons, and sometimes they wore a collar, and 
were taught to bow to their masters. (Ibid, and 
Dugd. Monast. i. 84. ii. 120.) There were some 
of them, at least, decoy-deer, which hunters sent 
into the woods, that, mixing with the others, they 
might draw them into the nets ; and they had col- 
lars, or some other marks, that the hunters might 
not shoot them with their arrows. (Du Cange, v. 
Extellarius, ii. p. 276.) S. Gregory kept a cat, 
and was very fond of it. Ugutio calls it a certain 
ingenious animal, viz. a mouse-catcher. (Id.) 
Tame ravens were kept even by an Earl, and were 
sometimes supposed to be spirits in that form. 
(J. Rous, 207.) We hear too of weazels, with 
little bells round their necks. (Du Cange, v. Pel- 
teolus.) Parrots are of classical antiquity, as every 
school-bov knows. Singing birds were artificially 
taught. *(X. Scr. 666. M. Par. 140.) Both par- 
rots and monkeys were also curiously instructed. 
Du Cange, v. Mammones. 

ft Sed tamen illud habent quod cuncta refellit, 
Ante Deum lachrymas quse sine lege fluunt ; 
Hiis dum placent semper veniamque merentur 
His sua cuncta lavant crimina, quicquid agunt. 
Spec. Stult. MS. Cott. Tit. A. 20. 

b The Gilbertine Nuns were not to talk Latin 
unless a suitable occasion required ; or to privately 
hide or steal any thing. Monast. ii. 766. 

c Angl. Sacr. L 629, 654. 

d Lysons's Britannia, i. 52. 

e Du Cange, v. Militissa. 

f All Monks and Nuns were not of the above 
vicious description. Pensions were granted at the 
dissolution according to the characters of the Monks, 
and the visitors recommended such for preferment, 
as they did one Randall Wylmyston, Monk of 
Norton, calling him "a gud religious man, discrete, 
and well grounded in lerning, and hath many gud 
qualities." MS. Harl. 604, f. 54. And the Nun- 
nery of Legborne petitioned to be preserved, saying, 
" We trust in God, ye shall here no complaint 
against us, nether in our living nor hospitalitie- 
keeping." MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. 270, b. 



adopted of General Chapters and Visi- 
tations. The first General Chapter 
was one of the Cistertians in Burgundy, 
which afterwards became annual, and 
set the example to the other Orders.^ 
When this first Chapter of the Cister- 
tians was held, is not mentioned by 
Mabillon ; but it seems it was in 1116. b 
The Benedictines first assembled for 
this purpose at Oxford in the year 
1219. 1 When the Friars held a Ge- 
neral Chapter, sustenance was found 
them by persons of high rank. k In all 
Orders provisions were laid-in weeks 
before. 1 These assemblies were meet- 
ings of the Abbots and Priors, or their 
Proctors, once in three years, when 
visitors of the different houses were 
appointed, and emendatory statutes 
enacted.™ The forms and methods of 
proceeding in them may be seen in the 
Appendix to Reyner. n 

In the year 1232, Gregory appointed 
visitors to correct abuses. These were 
in the exempt houses, not Bishops, 
but Abbots, principally of the Cister- 
tian and Prsemonstratensian Orders, 
and appointed by the Pope or the 
General Chapter. Their harshness, 
insolence, and severity, occasioned fre- 
quent appeals to Rome ; the result of 
which was the appointment of others. 
Those who refused to admit the visita- 
tion were to be suspended by the visi- 
tors (pay 10/. say later Constitutions) ;P 
but, upon seeking absolution, were to 
receive it, upon condition of giving 
security to obey the judgment of the 
General Chapter, and receive the visi- 
tation in future. Transmarine Monks 
were to assign reasons, if they were 
unwilling to be visited. i The visitors 
were to beware putting the Convent to 



s Mabillon's Annales Benedictini, v. 617. 

h See Fabricii Bibl. M. Mvi, iii. 559. 

1 Knighton, 2430. k M. Paris, 677. 

1 Howes'sStowe, 284. 

m Athon. 52. Reyner, Append. &c. 

B I have published the full ceremonial of one in 
the Archaeological Library, p. 167, from an Abbey 
Register. It is not important. 

W. Thorne, 2114. 

p Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1444. c. 12. 

» M. Paris, 1097. 



M 2 



164 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



superfluous expence. They were to 
order delinquent Monks to be punished 
by the Abbot, who, if remiss, was him- 
self punishable by the General Chap- 
ter ; and, till such Chapter was held, if 
the Abbot was not exempt, his Dioce- 
san was to find him a coadjutor. 3 If 
one of the visitors could not perform 
his office, another was to be appointed 
by the Abbots who presided over the 
General Chapter. b No one could the 
same year be the visitor of one who 
had been deputed to inspect his own 
Abbey. c They were to be suspended 
from the celebration of divine service 
if they neglected their duty ; and, if 
a crime was rumoured of any house, 
they were to send word and visit it as 
soon as possible. d Informers at visi- 
tations were not to be vexed or perse- 
cuted afterwards by the Abbot or 
officer s. e Visitors were to reduce to 
writing what they had discovered in 
their visitations, where it was neces- 
sary to have the advice of the President 
of the Chapter/ The ceremony ob- 
served was this, Notice was given of 
the intended visitation ; an agreement 
was made respecting the time ; and in 



the mean while the Abbot promised 
the declaration of every thing amiss 
before their coming; all which he 
would himself, in process of time, 
amend. On the morrow after the 
arrival of the visitors, a sermon was 
preached in the Chapter, and the com- 
mission and statutes made in the Pro- 
vincial Chapter read. Then, if after 
a minute scrutiny of every Monk no 
offence was found, they departed, 
having made only a stay of a few 
days.s These visitations gave birth 
to many defamatory libels and letters 
from those who happened to pass by 
any house and heard the vices of it, 
and from malicious persons ; as well 
as to confederacies of the Monks to 
overthrow emendatory statutes. 11 Mat- 
thew Paris says, that, in consequence 
of the local constitutions thus made, 
scarce two houses were found alike 
in their rule of living ; i but, as the 
Canons of Ottoboni were uniformly 
enforced by them, this may be ques- 
tioned. Many acts of successive Ge- 
neral Chapters, the same vices conti- 
nuing, are mere transcripts of one 
another. 



ORDER OF ST. VICTOR AT PARIS. 1 



This is the form of holding a Gene- 
ral Chapter, according to the man- 
ner of the Order of Saint Victor of 
Paris. 

The convent of the place in which 
the general chapter is celebrated, shall 
rise early in the morning of that day ; 
and the signal being given in the dor- 
mitory, the brethren shall go to the 
church, and there say all the hours of 
the day and high- mass, and the 25 
psalms, if it be Lent, except the last 
hour of nones, and the service of the 
Virgin Mary, which all the brethren 
shall say by themselves, that they may 
all be present at the general chapter. 
When this is finished, they shall imme- 
diately ring for the general chapter. 



11 M. Paris, 405. 

b Reyn. Append. 97. 

6 C. North, ut supr. c. 12. 

1 Wilkins'sConcil. iii. 147- 



Id.103. 
« Ibid. 



Hcec est forma tenendi Capitulum Ge- 
nerate juocta modum ordinis Sancti 
Victoris Parisiensis. 

Conventus loci, quo capitulum cele- 
bratur, summo mane surget illo die, et 
dato signo in dormitorio fratres ibunt 
ad ecclesiam, et ibi dicent omnes horas 
diei et missam magnam et xxv psalm os, 
si quadragesima fuerit, excepta ultima 
hora none et horis Ve Marie, quas sin- 
gli dicent per se, ut omnes fr'es inter- 
sint capit'lo generali. Istis completis 
statim pulsabunt ad cap^lum generale. 



e M. Paris, 713. 

h C. North, ut supr. ' 

k From an Abbey Register at Berkeley. 



P. 322. 






MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



165 



And when all the brethren have entered 
the chapter, and are seated, the brother, 
before he begins to preach the word of 
God, shall immediately rise, and say, 
Jube Domine benedicere; and the presi- 
dent shall say, that all may hear, Domi- 
nies sit in corde tuo et labiis ad pronun- 
ciandum sacra Dei eloquia. In noie p. 
etfr. &c. and all shall say Amen. The 
sermon being therefore completed, the 
president shall say Benedicite, and all 
shall answer Dominus ; and he shall say 
to the proctors, "You conventual proc- 
tors have somewhat to say," and they 
shall answer, "Yes, sir f and one of the 
proctors shall say first, "Father, we 
have the souls of our brethren and 
friends first to be recommended, if it 
pleases," and shall say thus : " We of 
the convent of such a place ask, that 
you have these souls of our brethren, 
and the souls of our friends lately de- 
ceased, to be recommended, to wit, the 
souls of brother N., and brother N., 
and brother N., our special canons 
lately deceased ;" and afterwards read 
our intimates, to wit, Will. N., Rich. 
N., and John N., and even of our spe- 
cial benefactors lately deceased: and 
the president shall answer to every 
proctor, when he reads over the bro- 
thers and friends, " Requiescant in 
pace." Each of these being read over 
in order, they shall say, De profundis 
clamavi, and the pater-noster, and 
three prayers, to wit, Deus venie largi- 
tor, Deus indulgenciarum, et Jidelium 
Deus. Afterwards the president shall 
say, in the name of all the presiding 
officers, "We enjoin all our canons, who 
are able to celebrate masses, that for 
the souls here recommended, they each 
say a mass ; and the other brethren 
not celebrating, a psalter ; and every 
one of the convent brethren a hundred 
pater-nosters, and as many Ave-Ma- 
rias." Then the president shall say, 
"Ye conventual proctors, where are 
your credentials?' 5 and they shall show 
and deliver them to the president, to 
examine if they be sufficient; and, after 
examination, the president shall return 
them. Then the president shall say, 



Et cum omnes fr'es cap'lum sunt in- 
gressi, et in sedibus suis collocati, fra- 
ter priusquam ad predicandum verbum 
Dei statim surget, et coram preesidente 
inclinabit et dicet : Jube D'ne benedi- 
cere, et preesidens dicet ita ut ab omni- 
bus audiatur : Dnus sit in corde tuo et 
in labiis tuis ad pronunciandum sacra 
Dei eloquia. In noie p. et s. &c. Et 
omnes dicent Amen. Sermone itaque 
complete, presidens dicet Benedicite et 
omnes dicent Dns, et dicet procurato- 
ribus : Vos procuratores conventuales 
habetis aliquod dicere : et responde- 
bunt etiam Dne, et dicet unus de pro- 
curatoribus primo : Pater, habemus 
ai'as fratrum et amicorum primo recom- 
mendandas si placet, et dicet sic, Nosde 
conventu talis loci rogamus ut habeatis 
istas ai'as fratr' nostror 5 et animas ami- 
corum nuper defunctorum recommen- 
dandas, sciP ai'as fratris N. et frat. N. 
et fratr. N. canonicorum nostrorum 
specialium nuper defunctorum, et pos^ 
tealeget familiares, sc.WiU'm N. Ric'm 
N. et Joh'nem N. et etiam benefacto- 
rum nostrorum specialium nuper de- 
functorum : et respondebit preesidens 
unicuique procuratori cum perlegerit 
fr'es et familiares, Requiescant in pace, 
Quibus per ordinem singlis perlectis 
dicent, De profundis clamavi et Pat. 
Nr. et tres orationes, sc. Deus venie 
largitor, Deus indulgenicarum, et fide- 
lium Deus. Postmodum dicet preesi- 
clens vice omnium preelatorum, Nos 
injurigimus omnibus canonicis suis qui 
missas celebrare possunt, ut pro istis 
ai'abus pie recommendatis dicant sin- 
gli singlas missas et ceteri fr'es non 
celebrantes unum psalterium et unus- 
quisque conversorum fr'm C. pr. nr. 
cum totidem ave-maria. Deinde dicet 
preesidens, vos procuratores conventu- 
ales, ubi sunt vestra procuratoria ? et 
ipsi ostendent procuratoria sua, et tra- 
dent preesidenti ad examinandum si 
sint sufficiencia. Quibus examinatis 
o'ia eaclem procuratoribus restituet. 
Tunc preesidens dicet o'ibus assistenti- 



166 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



all assisting, "My brethren, lo ! we are 
here summoned and assembled, in the 
name of our Lord, to see and correct 
the defects and excesses in divine mat- 
ters in persons and things, and to set- 
tle, by common assent, upon these, 
what may please God and profit our 
brethren, and to the salvation of their 
souls : and that, in the present general 
chapter, we may be able so to do and 
perform what must be done to the 
praise of God, and the honour of all 
saints, and the holy church, and the 
edification of all our souls, let us invoke 
the holy spirits to our aid." And then 
they shall say the hymn Veni Creator ', 
&c. after which the president shall say 
the prayer, Deus, qui cor da fidelium ; 
and then shall say to all, "Have you 
any legitimate motions to make upon 
defects or excesses in the divine offices, 
respecting either persons or things, 
which can be emendated in this chap- 
ter?'* And they who have any thing 
to propose, shall answer, "Yes, sir," 
and then shall read their motions in 
writing ; and a president shall then, by 
common assent, be elected for a future 
time. Who being elected, and sitting 
before the tribunal, the past president 
shall rise and standing before the pre- 
sident elect, shall resign his office, say- 
ing, " My beloved brethren, I beg you 
to make allowances for me if in the 
execution of my duty I have been neg- 
ligent or remiss for calling upon the 
name of God. I received the office, 
and before you, brethren and witnesses, 
I, reverend father, now resign it :" and 
the president shall answer, " God be 
merciful to you/' and all the brethren 
shall say "Amen." Afterwards four 
persons at least shall be elected by com- 
mon consent to examine the proposi- 
tions there made by the brethren, which 
persons may be approved for virtue 
and religion. Who, after due delibe- 
ration, may settle and define upon the 
propositions by common consent, what 
may best suit divine worship and the 
salvation of their souls : and let those 
things which they shall approve 
according to God and the canon laws. 



bus, fr'es mei ecce in no'ie Dni sumus 
hie vocati et congregati ad vidend' et 
emend' defectus et excessus in divinis 
officiis in personis et rebus, et ad statu- 
endum per communem assensum super 
eisdem, quae Deo placeant, et fratribus 
ac notis proficeat (sic) ad salutem a'ia- 
rura : et ut in prsesenti Capitulo gene- 
rali possumus sic agere et perficere ea 
quae agenda sunt ad laudem Dei et ad 
honorem oi'um sc'orum et sc'ae ecclie, 
et ad ai'arum nostrarum utilitatem 
s'ctum spr'm in adjutorium invocemus. 
Et tunc dicent hymnum Veni Creator 
spr'us, quo dicto dicat praesidens oracio- 
nem scil. Deus qui corda fidelium, et 
tunc dicet o'ibus, Habetisne aliqua 
motiva legitima proponenda super de- 
fectibus et excessibus in officiis divinis 
aut in rebus aut in personis quae per 
istud cap'lum poterunt emendari? Et 
respondebunt illi qui habent aliqua pro- 
ponenda, dicendo Etiam Dne, et tunc 
legent fr'es praeponentes sua motiva in 
scriptis. Et tunc eligatur unus praesi- 
dens per communem assensum pro 
tempore futuro. Quo electo et pro 
tribunali sedente surget praesidens 
praeteritus, et stans coram praesidente 
electo, officium suum resignet coram 
o'ibus dicendo : Fr'es mei dilecti pro 
Deo rogo mihi parcatis si in officio 
mihi commisso negligens extiterim vel 
remissus, nam nomine Dei invocato 
suscepto praesidentis officio coram vo- 
bis fr'ibus et testibus illud, pater reve- 
rende, resigno. Et praesidens respon- 
deat, Indulgeat tibi Deus, et omnes 
fr'es dicent amen. Postea elegantur 
quatuor personae ad minus per commu- 
nem assensum, ad via motiva per fratres 
ibidem proposita examinanda qui reli- 
gions et discrecione' sint approbati. 
Qui habito super hiis nactatu diligenti 
statuant et diffiniant super propositis 
per communem assensum ea quae magis 
cultui clivino; et ai'arum saluti sibi vide- 
rint expedire, et ea quae secundum 
Deum et jura canonica approbaverint 



MONKS, NUNS, &C. 



167 



be approved by them, and remain per- 
manent according to the chapter de 
static Monachorum, and the chapter 
which thus begins: In singlis provinciis 
[They are constitutions of Ottobon, 
and are printed in Lindwood] and be 
reduced to writing in due form, that 
they may be held for authentic, and be 
sent to every convent of the province 
under the seal of the president. These 
things being done in due form, let the 
visitors of the past time be called to 
answer for the office committed to 
them, and if they have any thing to 
reveal, let them relate what they have 
to say, yet by no means exceeding the 
bounds of their office : and if the above 
visitors shall have been found negligent 
in the office of visiting, or have exceed- 
ed their duty, they shall be corrected, 
and deservedly punished according to 
their merits, so that their punishment 
may be an example to others, because 
their office is especially dangerous, if 
they have not acted in a proper man- 
ner. After these things, let three visi- 
tors be elected by common consent for 
a future time, who may know how to 
execute the office of visitation in a due 
form, as is fit, so that no one may visit 
in their own houses, but be visited 
among the other brethren by their two 
colleagues. Afterwards let the place 
and day of the next general chapter be 
named, so that they by no means be 
protracted beyond the next term, and 
be written in the end of the statutes, 
that they may be known to all the bre- 
thren, and it is to be observed, that as 
often as a necessity of visiting shall 
exist, it shall be announced by letter to 
the visitors, and the convents of the 
places have due notice. 



ab o'ibus approbentur, et rata debent 
permanere secundum quod legitur 
capit'lum de statu Monachorum : et 
cap'lum qui sic incipit, In singlis pro- 
vinciis : et in singlis redigantur mo do 
debito ut pro autenticis teneantur, & 
sub sigillo preesidentis singlis conventi- 
bus provinciee liberentur. Hiis cum 
deliberatione peractis vocentur visita- 
tores temporis prseteriti ut de officio 
illis commisso respondeant, et si quid 
habeant revel andum revelent, et quod 
dicendum est referant : Metas tamen 
visitationis minime excedendo, et si 
iidem visitatores in officio visitandi 
negligentes extiterint vel in visitando 
in aJiquo excesserint super hoc corripi- 
antur, et juxta ipsorum merita condigni 
puniantur ita qd poena eorum sit cete- 
ris in exemplum, quod eorum officium 
est diversimode periculorum nisi debito 
modo in visitando proceperint. Post 
hsec eligantur hi visitatores per coem 
assensum pro tempore futuro, qui sci- 
ant officium visitandi debito modo exe- 
qui prout decet. Ita vero ut nullus 
eor' in propriis domibus visitet sed inter 
alios fr'es a duobus collegis suis visiten- 
tur ut ceeteri. Postmodum no'ientur 
locus et dies proximi capitli futuri. Ita 
q 5 d ultra proximum terminum minime 
preengantur et in fine statutorum con- 
scribentur ut omnibus fratribus valeant 
innotescere, et notand' quod quoties 
necessitas visitandi extiterit per prcesi- 
dentem literatoriee debent visitatores 
excitari et conventus locorum suffici- 
enter premuniri. 
Ex Registro Abbatice Sancti Augustini 

Bristollice in Castro de Berkeley, p, 

ult. 



168 



FRIARS. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



FRIARS. 



The sciences of Physiology, Chemistry, 
Natural Philosophy, and Astronomy, 
by their stupendous deveiopements of 
the grandeur of Deity, are the firmest 
friends of rational Piety; for they exhi- 
bit Fanaticism in the light of a Procu- 
ress, who wishes to palm off a painted 
Prostitute for a blooming Virgin. They 
who are not ignorant, will not be cre- 
dulous ; and only because the multi- 
tude cannot be informed, it is easy to 
dupe them. Of pious harlotry (for 
the Scriptures designate false worship 
by the term Fornication), the most 
successful agents in the middle age were 
the Friars. They differed only from 
Monks, in being by profession beggars. 
This voluntary mendicity, to a certain 
extent infringed, a produced, of course, 
the practice of mean arts. Dread of 
knowledge, not prejudice, occasioned 
the persecution of Galileo; and we find 
from Spain, that whenever, as Swift 
would say, a country is over-run with 
religious vermin, an interest is created 
for perpetuating ignorance, and that 
grovelling character which annexes no' 
value to the noble and useful qualities 
of honour, ingenuousness, bravery, 
patriotism, and high reason, as the 
governing principle of the whole man. 
"We never swear, only cheat and lie/' 
is the Jesuitical adage of many who sup- 
port their characters by abstaining from 
pleasure ; but the Friars, more clever, 
united both at the public expence. 

Pontifical edicts restricted the Fri- 
ars to the four Orders of Dominicans : 
Jacobites, or Preachers, b Franciscans, 
Carmelites, and Augustinian Eremites. 

a They pretended that the property was in the 
Pope, the use only in themselves. Gutch's Collec- 
tanea Curiosa, i. p. 80. 

The Jacobites were so named from the follow- 
ing circumstance : 

Quo tempore, 1198, fuitineadem civitate quidam 
famosus Anglicus de villa Sancti Albani, oriundus 
magistro Johanne, dictus de Sancto Albano, 



The evils of poverty were not, how- 
ever, felt by the mendicants. Neither 



physicus praecipuus et regis Francise curam gerens. 
Hie cum ditatus fuisset auro Franciae, sibi quoddam 
hospicium comparavit in civitate prsedicta (Paris) 
pene dilapsum et dirutum, in quod solebant ex 
longinquis partibus venientes causa, peregrinationis 
versus Sanctum Jacobum in Hispania divertere 
peregrini, et ibidem per dies aliquot exhiberi, sed 
deficientibus redditibus et eleemosyna subtracts, 
est et hospicium desolatum. Emit ergo Johannes 
dictum zenodochium, et exinde fecit sibi hospitium 
correspondens fortunse suae. Qui cum vidisset 
dictos fratres cotidie missas celebrare, oracionibus 
instare, et prsedicationibus invigilare, motus devo- 
tione quam pietate, contulit eis prsedictum zeno- 
dochium in habitaculum sempiternum, ex cujus 
hospitalis vocabulo nomen traxerunt preedicti fratres, 
ut Jacobite vocarentur ab adjecto nomine hospi- 
talis. — Tractatus de ortu ac prioritate ordinis 
Monachor. MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. 322, b. 323. a. 

At which time (1198) there was in the same 
city a certain famous Englishman of the town of 
St. Alban's, descended from one master John, and 
named from St. Alban's, an excellent physician, 
who had the care of the King of France. Having 
got rich with French gold, he purchased in the 
same city (of Paris) a dilapidated and almost ruined 
hospital, where the pilgrims going to St. James's 
in Spain were used to resort, and to receive refresh- 
ment for some days, till decay of revenue prevented 
it. The above John, therefore, bought the place, 
and made an hospital of it suitable to his fortune, 
and when he had seen the said brothers daily cele- 
brating Mass, urgent in prayer, and diligent in 
preaching, from instigations of devotion, he gave 
them the house for a perpetual dwelling ; and from 
the previous name of the house, they were in con- 
sequence called Jacobites [or Preachers.'] * 

c Some writers say there were three sorts of 
poverty among the Friars ; to have nothing either 
of their own or in common {Franciscans, true only 
of some branches of them) ; another, nothing of 
their own, but something in common, as books, 
clothes, and food (Dominicans ;) the third, some- 
thing of both, but only necessaries, food and clothes. 
Speed remarks, that every householder paid to 
each of the five orders of Friars, one penny per 
quarter; the amount of which contribution, being 
,£43,333. 6s. Sd. per annum, is equal to a fourth 
of the gross revenues of all the other religious 
houses, as given by that author. Taylor's Index 
Monast. Pref. viii. 



* " When the Pope was going to write to Domi- 
nick on business, he said to the notary, ' Write to 
master Dominick and the preaching brethren ;' and 
from that time they began to be called the Friars 
Preachers.'' 1 Jansenius Vita Dominici, L. i. C, 
vi. p. 44. Antw. 12mo. 



FRIARS, 



169 



King nor Bishop, says an antient poet, 
"have any thing done so soon as these 
esteemed religious;" 8 and, says Barclay, 
" the Freres have store every day 
of the week." b To shew how they 
were obtained, Faustus the country- 
man says, 

We geve wool and cheese, our wives coyne and eggs, 
WheD freres natter and praise their proper legges ; 

to which he adds, that one had two 
or three cheeses of him for a score 
of pinnes, and two or three needles, 
and 

Phillis gave coyne because he did her charme, 
Ever sith that time lesse hath she felt of harme. c 

Firing was given them by grant, d and 
clothing sent by cart-loads at a time. 6 
If an estimate of their conduct may 
be formed from that of foreign religi- 
ous not long after their cera, who resem- 
bled them in other respects, denial of 
their requests was extremely perilous, 
If refused, they were in the habits of 
extracting scandal from the servants, 
dispersing it, and sometimes fabrica- 
ting a charge of heresy, in case they 
had little chance of injuring in the for- 
mer way. f They had rich garments or 
valuable furniture, and delighted much 
in having or borrowing moveables of 
this kind.? They took persons with 
them to collect money, because they 
could not receive it themselves. 11 Their 
taxes were paid for them by the nobi- 
lity ;i and they obtained mansions and 

a Nee Rex nee Episcopus, ut satis est probatum, 
Habent opus aliquod tarn cito paraturo, 
Quam qui cotidie vadunt mendicatum. 

MS. Cott. Cleop. B. n. p. 59. 

b Barclay, Egl. i. c Id. 5. 

d Morant's Colchester, 152. 

e M. Paris, p. 718. 

f Buchanani Franciscanus. " IlUus ancillas 
famulosque accerse loqv.aces,^ &c. Poemata ; 268. 
Amstel. 12mo. 1637. See also Notices, v. 408. 

£ Non habere debent apparamenta aut preciosa 
vasa ; et fratres in hujusmodi rebus precipue glori- 
antur. MS. Bodl. 2737, p. 15. Insuper fratres 
non habeant nee mutuent vasa aurea vel argentea, 
vel utantur eisdem, vel aliis jocalibus preciosis. 
MS. Bodl. 1882, p. 49, b. 

h Quod secum ducat ad colligendos denarius 
receptores. MS. Bodl. 2737, p. 14, b. 

1 " In the ninth of Edward III. when the houses 
of the Friars, Carmelites, and other houses of Friars 
in Bristol and Gloucester, were taxed to pay any 
15th or other duty to the king, this lord sent to 
them either all or most part of the money." MS. 
Lives of the Berkeley Family, 292. 



dwellings by sending messengers to 
the Papal See, to cheat the Monks of 
them, in which, however, they received 
a check. k 

Chaucer^s Friar is a pleasant scoun- 
drel, a religious Falstaff. He was 
wanton and merry ; full of dalliance 
and fair language ; had made full many 
a marriage of young women at his own 
cost ; was intimate with yeomen over 
all the country and worthy women of 
the towns; was licentiate of his Order, 
and had power of confession, more 
than any Curate ; instead of weeping 
and prayers, by way of penance, he pre- 
scribed money to the "poor Freres;" 
could sing and play well; knew the 
taverns, hostelers, and tapsters, in 
every town, but shunned the beggars j 1 
courteous and lowly of service when 
any thing was to be got; gave a certain 
farm for his grant ; could toy like a 
whelp ; lisped somewhat for wanton- 
ness, to make his English sweet upon 
his tongue ; when begging at the bed 
of a sick man, he asks him for his 
money to make their Cloister, and pre- 
tends that they had fared a long while 
upon muscles and oysters to raise mo- 
ney for it; that they owed forty pounds, 
and if they could not get wherewith to 
pay it, must sell their books ; that the 
Friars were the sun of the world, which 
must go to destruction but for their 
preaching, and that Elisha and Elias 
were Friars ; at last he pretends that 
they had prayed in their Chapter day 
and night for his health, and adds 
that a trifle is nothing parted among 
twelve. 



k M. Paris, 354. Hence the satire " Cur vos 
Nudipedes, ad Papse curritis sedes ?" " Why, bare- 
foot Friers, run ye to the Pope?" in JUS. Cott. 
Jul. D. vii. p. 128. 

1 And how the Fryers followed folke that was 
ryche, 
And folke that was pore at little price they set, 
And no cors in hir kirkeyard nor kirke was 

buried 
But quik he bequeth hem ought or quite part 
of hir dets. 

Piers Plowman, f. lxi. 
They had standing hearses always ready. See Lib. 
Cotid. Contrar. Garde rob. 28 Ed. I. p. 46. And 
compelled splendid funerals. Bale, i. 664, 5 Ed, 
Oporin. 



170 



FRIARS. 



The Constitutions enacted, that no 
one should become a General Preacher 
before he had studied theology for 
three years. Persons fit were present- 
ed to the General or Provincial Chap- 
ter, and an inquiry was made into their 
characters from the brothers they lived 
with. When sufficient attestation was 
adduced of their learning, piety, and 
fervour of zeal in purpose and inten- 
tion, the decision was made, whether 
they should stay longer in study, or 
whether they should proceed to preach 
with others more advanced in age, or 
by themselves. 5 Thus qualified, they 
began their pernicious office. Matthew 
Paris describes them as expecting to 
be received by procession, as entering 
into noble Monasteries 13 upon pretence 
of performing their duty, and depart- 
ing on the morrow ; but instead, feign- 
ing sickness, and making a temporary 
wooden super altar, receiving the confes- 
sion of many parishioners, to the injury 
of the Parish Priests. In 1246 the Friars 
Preachers obtained the Papal licence to 
hear confessions and enjoin penances 
any where. They called the Secular 



Clergy idiots ; and those who were 
restrained from committing sin by 
unwillingness that their Parish Priests 
should know it, encouraged themselves 
by saying, we will confess to some Friar 
passing this way, whom we have never 
seen before, and shall never see again. d 
Erasmus mentions a Parish Priest who 
refused them hospitality, because, said 
he, if you should see any poultry in my 
house, I should be traduced in your 
sermon to-morrow. e With the great 
they were the favourite Confessors ; f 
they strove to be inmates at the houses 
of nobles, to gain favour with whom 
they suppressed the truth, taught them 
fables and falsehoods, and often, to 
extort money, preached matters con- 
trary to the true faith.? The Pope 
ordered them, when attending dying 
people, to persuade them to make their 
wills to the use and help of the Holy 
Land, that he might extort money 
upon recovery, or from executors upon 
deceased Nor was their preaching 
practical and useful ; for, says Robert 
Langland, 



Friars and fel 1 other masters that to the lewd men preachen 
Ye moven matters immesurabie to tel of the trynity 
That ofttimes the lewde people of their beliefe douten. k 



They took vows of chastity from 
women, or induced them to pay obe- 
dience to themselves; became judges 
and arbiters; and on St. Nicholas's 
day, about the time of the Feast of 
Fools, put on secular, clerical, or female 
garments, and lent their own to lay 

a Statuimus ne ullus fiat prsedicator generalis 
antequam theologiam audierit per tres annos. MS . 
Cott. Nero, A. xn. 171, b. Post hsec qui idonei 
ad prsedicandum ab aliquibus estimantur prsesentes 
capitulo generali, vel provinciali, ubi diligenter 
inquiratur a fratribus, cum quibus conversati sunt, 
&c. de studio et religione, et caritatis fervore in 
proposito ac intentione ; utrum ipsi fratres adhuc 
in studio debeant morari, vel cum fratribus provec- 
tioribus in prsedicatione exeant, vel idonei sint vel 
utiles per se prtedicatoris omcium exercere. Id. 
168. b. 

b At St. Alban's a hostrey was built on purpose 
for them below the gate of the court, and they 
came there almost every day to dine or preach. 
M. Paris, 715. 

c P. 354. This is admirably ridiculed in the 
Funus of Erasmus, 



persons for secular games and sports. 1 



d M. Paris, p. 607, 8. 

"■ Colloq. 269, § Franciscani. 

f " For sith charitie was chapman and chefe to 
shrive hordes." Piers Plowm. f. i. b. 

s Tu, Carmelita, (Chaucer's Friar in the Sompn. 
tale was of that order,) mundum deserere quseris, 
ac nobilium domos frequentare anhelas. Favere 
magnatibus divitibusque cupiens veritatem taces, 
fabulas et fallacias doces, et ut saspe pecuniam 
extorqueas fidei contraria prsedicas. MS. Harl. 
1819, f. 120, b. (Sermo Johan. Egidii.) 

h M. Par. 753. They were very reluctantly the 
Pope's agents. Id. 696. 

1 Many. k F. lxxviii. 

1 Item nullus frater a muliere votum continentiae 
requirat, seu oblatum recipiat, seu ad faciendam 
sibi obedientiam inducat. Item fratres non sint judi- 
ces nee arbitri. MS. Bodl. 1882, f. 54. Caveant 
fratres in festo S. Nicholai, &c. ne vestes exeuntes 
religiosas, seu seculares, autclericales,velmuliebres 
. . . sub specie devotionis induerent, nee habitus aut 
vestes ordinis secularibus pro ludis faciendis, aut 
secularibus velom' accommodenter. Id. 51 . b. From 
this it seems most probable, that the Friar in the 
morris-dance was not an actual Franciscan, as Mr, 



FKIARS 



171 



Erasmus says, that he had seen a 
Domestic Fool, who wore the long gown 
and cap of a Doctor of Divinity ; ob- 
served a grave look, and disputed 
upon subjects with as much enter- 
tainment of great men, as any other 
Fool. a Eating with Seculars,, the 
Canonists decided, was allowable to 
them as a fit return for the services 
rendered to them. b 

They denied that their Rule pre- 
scribed labour, obtained Papal letters, 
and glossed the Rule to their own liking. 
Admitted murderers into their society/ 
and obtained money to procure par- 
dons for condemned criminals, 6 were 
great liars/ and contentious,^ fraudu- 
lent, usurious, simoniacal, rapacious, 
proud, and domineering over others, 
epicures, hated long prayers, dreaded 
penances, h haunted suspicious places 



Toilet supposed, but a Ssecular to whom the habit 
was lent. 

a Franciscani Colloq. 277. 

b Nam qui alterius negotium gerit utilitatis, et 
ignorantis et absentis licite recipit expensas ; unde 
satis videtur per hoc quod fratres prsedicatores, qui 
eunt ad rap tores ut eos inducant ad poenitentiam et 
restitutionem faciendam, excusari [debent] si come- 
dant apud illos maxime, si non possunt invenire 
cibos apud alios. Raymundi Summula. MS. Pemb. 
Coll. Libr. Oxford. 

c Dicunt esse errorcm, illud quod in sua regula 
continetur. Dicitur enim in regula isto modo. 
Fratres quibus dedit gratiam laborandi laborent 
fideliter et devote. MS. Bodl. 2737. Regula 
Francisei precipit quod verba regulse non glosentur ; 
et fratres laborant ut verborum sensus tollantur, 
specialiter de Uteris a sede apostolica non petendis. 
Id. 14. b. (This was the grand source of conten- 
tion between the mild and austere Franciscans.) 

d M. Paris, 775. The motive here was probably 
not so pure as the Magdalen principle (Ecce ovis 
errans) upon which a thief was admitted, in MS. 
Harl. 2385, f. 517. e Id. 792. 

f " Falsenes for feare then fledde to the Friers." 
Piers Plowman, f. xi. a. 

s "lam wrath, quod he, I was continually a 
Fryer." Id. fol. xxiii. Gravis culpa est, si quis 
inhonestum (sic) in audiencia sseclariorum cum 
aliquo contendit; si frater cum fratre intus vel 
exterius lites habuerit. MS. Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 
161 , a. (It is a great fault if there are any disgraceful 
contentions in the hearing of Sseculars, if one Friar 
quarrels with another, either in door or out.) 

h Ceteros vero terrenis inhserentes avaricise stu- 
dio, fraudibus, usuris, symonia rapinaque loculos et 
cor (quod insaciabile est) anxia cum solicitudine 
implere concupiscere vides. MS. Harl. 1819, f. 
120, a. Alios nempe ambitione superbos videtis 
aliis dominare velle, f. 120, a. Tu vero guise deli- 
cias quseris, f. 120, b. Video vos prsestantissimi 
fratres oratione, longiore affici twdio, f, 121, a. 



to enjoy gossipping, and made idle and 
useless visits to women, and received 
presents from some of them of bad 
character, 1 for with the women they 
were great favourites : 

For when the godeman is fro hame, 
And ye frere comes to onie dame, 
He spares nought for synne ne shame. 
If women seme of hert full stable, 
With faire behest and with fable 
Yay can make yer hertes chaungeable. k 

This favour was additionally gained 
perhaps by their military manners and 
habit. We have had Bishops famous 
Generals, as Peter de Rupibus, Bishop 
of Winchester;! and Knighton de- 
scribes one John of the Franciscan 
Order as "brave in warlike arms;" 111 
and John Giles reproaches the Car- 
melites with dressing like soldiers in 
the same stuff and like particularity. 11 
Hence too the irony of these lines : 

Prieste ne Monke ne no Chanon, 

Ne no man of religion, 

Gyfen so to devocion, 

As don thes holy Frers, 

For some gyven ham to Chivalry, 

Some to riote and ribaudry, 

But Freres gyven ham to grete study. 

On the favourable side there appear 
instances of disinterestedness, in re- 
jecting a royal present of clothing 
criminally obtained ;P of their religious 
zeal, in attempting the conversion of 
the Jews ;<i of their learning in being 



Multi nempe religionis posnitentias horrentes nedum 
juvenes, sed et setate cani .... in luxurias laqueo 
capiuutur, f 122, b. 

1 Insuper firmiter inhibemus ut loca suspecta, 
fabulaciones, visitationes mulierum viciosas et 
inutiles penitus caveatis .... Prohibentes nihilo- 
minus ne munuscula a, suspectis mulieribus capian- 
tur. MS. Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 157, b. 

k MS. Cott. Cleop. B. n. f. 62, 63. 

I See Grose's Military Antiquities, i. 69. Anglia 
Sacra, &c. 

m In bellicis armis strenuus. Sub. a° 1381. 

II Tu ut miles eodem panno eaque curiositate 
vestiaris. MS. Harl. 1819, p. 120, b. See also 
M. Paris, 630. 

"But nothing is viler, nor moving more to wepe, 
Than a Priest a rayler, disdaining his honour, 
Or clothed as a Courtiour, or cruel Soldiour, 
With weapon or armour, as one ready to fight." 

Barclay, § Preface to " Mirror of good Manners." 
MS. Cott. ut supr. f. 26. Grete study is 

perhaps mere irony. See sect. Studies. 
p M. Paris, p. 718. 
? Toyey's Apglia Judaica, p, 216 ; seq. 



172 



FRIARS, 



collectors of books for literary Prelates/ 
and referees in heretical matters. b 

I shall conclude this account with 
the description of them, given by the 
revered Wickliff. 

i{ And here men noten many harmes 
yat Freris doen y the cherch; yei 
spuyle ye peple many weies by ypo- 
crisie or other lesyngis [lies] ; and bi 
these lesyngis/ and bi this spuylinge, 
yei bilden caymes d castels, to harm of 
cuntries ; yei stelen pore mennes chil- 
dren 6 yat is worse yan stele an oxe; 
and yei stelen gladlich eiris. I leve 
to speke of stelyng of wymen ; and yat 
thei maken londis bareyne, for wyth- 
drawing of werkmen not aloonli in 
defaute of cornes, but in beestis and 
oyir good; for yei reversen Goddis 
ordynaunce in preceptis of the chirche, 
yei maken men to trowe fals on hem, 
and letten almes to be gomin by Goddis 
lawe \i. e. hinder their being given 
according to God^s law] ; and thos yei 
letten by gabbingis [idle talk, lies] 
office and luf of trewe prestis, for hei 
letten [hinder] hem for to preche/ and 
speciali Christes gospel ; yei move 
londis to batels and pesible persones 
to plete ; yei maken many divorsis and 
many matrimonyes unleeful, bothe by 
leesyngis made to parties andbipravy- 
leges of the court. I leve to speke of 
flzting yat yei doen in oor lond and 
other, and of other bodili harmes yat 

a Cave's PJistoria Literaria Prolegom. p. 111. 

b Spenser's Life of Chicheley, 75. 

c Abbas de Bruereimplacitavitfratres prsedicato- 
res Lond' in Gwy Aula de uno mes' ibidem qui 
dixerunt quod non debeant respondere sine rege qui 
eis tenementa sua in puram eleemosynam confir- 
mavit. Et quia dominus rex dictum mesuag' eis 
non dedit, q\iod respondeant ulterius eidem. (i. e. 
the Abbot of Bruere has a trial with the Friars 
Preachers of London, in Guild Hall, of a messuage 
there ; and the Friars say that they are not to answer 
to it without the king, who confirmed it to them in 
pure alms. And because our lord the king did not 
give it to them, that they answer further to the same.) 
Rot. Pari. 18 E. I. N° 15. (vol. i.) 

d Caym is Cain, a synonym ; and by this term 
Wickliff designated the four mendicant Orders, 
from the initials C, Carmelites, A, Augustinians, J, 
Jacobites, M, Minors. See Fuller. 

c There were laws against this. St. 4 H. IV. 
C, 17. They were to receive no infants into their 
Order under 14 years of age, without consent of 
parents. Parliament. Rolls, 4 H. IV. 

f Well exposed by Erasmus in hjs Colloquies. 



tung is sufficen not to telle ; for as 
moche as yei dispende, as moche and 
more yei harmen rewmes .... but, as 
spyritual thing is better than bodili 
thing, that Ihe mai see, so spiritual 
harm is more yan bodili harm ; yei 
dooen him gostth harm and al man- 
kinde; whereof yei ben and is thou seist 
that non be freris ; but if yei ben, ye 
better to God; for holinesse of ther 
cumpany maketh many goode that ellis 
wolden be schrewis;£ stryve we not 
when this may falle; but graunteweon 
tothir side that many wolde be lesse 
yvel out of these ordris than in hem ; 
and sith they witen not who is beterid 
by entryng into yese ordris they doen 
as a blynd man castyth his staff to 
bring ony to ther ordir. Crist seyth 
that Pharisees been to blame for this 
dede, and Scarioth was the worse for 
beeing in this hooly cumpany he hadde 
not thus traied Crist and be moost 
unkinde traitour ; and sith coven tis of 
freris ben schrewis for the moest part 
or moche no wonder yf thei envenime 
men that come thus unto them for 
yhei moven to oolde errours yat thei 
h olden among them, as thei tellen to 
grete avaunt yat thei be charious h to 
the peple in ther synful begging, and 
zit yei blasfemen m* Crist, and seien 
that he beggide thus, to maynteyne 
ther owne syne : suche blasfemyes be 
founden and contynued in these sectis, 
that unethis thei be evir purgid fro 5 
servyce that thei ben browzt in as Crist 
techyth in his gospel. Now what men 
shulde snybbe ther britheren in their 
tymis and aftirward forsake ther cum- 
pany as venim 3 thes sectis han fordo 
the gospel ; for nether thei doen thus 
snybbe their britheren, ne forsake them 
at the farye time ; for yf yei doen yei 
schulen be deed or enprysoned long 
tyme; ellis haastily be killed; and 
whanne synne regneth among grete 

s Persons of bad temper and habits. Tyrwhitt. 
It is a loose general term for bad people. See 
Paston Letters, iv. 22. State Trials, 19, col. 2. 
h Of some poor freers is made more curiously, 
Then is some abbey or riche monastery, 
The first hath their trust in God our creatour, 
. The other trusteth upon their vayne treasour. 
Barclay's Egloges, Egl. i, 



FRIARS. 



173 



men, and thei dreden of worldli harm, 
thei doen not snybbe men of thys synne 
leest ther ordir leese worldli helpe ; 
but wher is more heresie than to love 
this ordre more than God, or to 
do yvellis for hope of good, that Poul 
forfendyn men to do. Also yese 
sectis empugne the gospel, and also 
the oold lawe, for thei chargen more 
yer owne statute, al if it be agens God- 
dis lawe, a yan yei doen the lawe of the 
gospel, and yus thei loven more ther 
ordre than Crist ; al if it were never so 
moche nede to go out and preche God- 
dis lawe, to defende our modir holi 
churche, zit yer ordir letteth this but 
if yei han ther priour's leve, al if God 
bidde to do this ; and communli thes 
privat priours lette ther felowis here to 
go out, b and so be thei never so riche, 
thei schulen not helpe ther fleshli eldres 
(erased), for all ther goodis ben ye 
housis sith they have nowgt propre but 
synne, and thys errour repruveth Crist 
in the Pharisees, yat sizen the gnat and 
swallowen the camel ; for yei chargen 
lesse more harm ; also thes Pharisees 
chargen moche ther fastyngis and 
other thyngis, that thei han foundun ; 
but kepyng of Goddis mauntementes 
thei chargen not halfe so moche, as he 
schulde be holden Apostata that lefe 
ye abite for a daie, but for levyng of de- 
dys of charite schulde he nothyng be 
blamed; and thus yei blasfemen in God, 
and seien whoso dieth in this abyte 
schall never go to helle, c for holynesse 

a See Menagiana, i. 302. 

b There are Limitours, Friars allowed to beg and 
preach within limits, and Listers, without bounds. 

c Quidam monachi dicunt omnes esse monachos, 
qui in paradiso erunt, vel potius nullum ibi esse non 
monachum. (Certain Monks say, that all are Monks 
who shall gain Heaven ; or rather that there is no 
one there not a Monk.) MS. Royal Library, 7. A. 
III. (No pages. ) Accordingly, it is no wonder some 
people were desirous of being buried in their habits; 
but others took care not to wear it while living. 
Lewis the Landgrave said, " As soon as I am dead, 
put on me the hood of the Cistertian Order ; but 
take very diligent care not to do it while I am alive." 
(Mox ut mortuus fuero cucullam ordinis Cister- 
ciensis mihi induite, et ne fiat me vivente diligen- 
tissime cavete.) Many took the habit in sickness, 
and afterwards left it. MuratoriRer. Italic. Scrip- 
tores, iv. 316. The Monthly Reviewers for May, 
1801, p. 77, have extracted a curious passage from 
Mr. Gough's Monuments on this subject. 



that is therein ;«l and so ayens Cristis 
sentence, they semen an oolde cloute 
in a newe cloeth, for yer order yei sein 
is gederid of the old lawe and the 
newe ; and zit thei han founden herto 
newe thingis, that thei kepon as gos- 
pel ; and thus thei chargen ther owne 
fasting and other ritis that thei kepen, 
more than biddyngis of Crist, for thei 
ben no newe maundementis to them. 
Suche hid sinnes among freres doen 
more harm to christen men than ben 
the bodili harmes, which the world 
chargyth more; and thes errour s in the 
world ben hyth maynteynid by freres, 
for wynning of worldli good or worldli 
worschip that thei covetin, e as lettris 
of fraternity/ and dowring of other 



d Sir Thomas More said to his Lady, that the 
consideration of the time (for it was Lent) should 
restrayne her from so scolding her servants; " Tush, 
Tush, my Lord,' 1 ' 1 said she, "■looke, here is one step 
to heavenward,'' 1 shewing him a Frier's girdle. "/ 
fearme, v said he, "this one step will not bring you 
up a step higher.'' Camden's Remains, 276. Thus 
it appears, that Ladies wore Friers' girdles in Lent. 

e I found ther the fryers, all the four orders, 
Preached to the people for profite of hemselves, 
Glosed the gospel as hem good liked. 

Piers Plowman, Fol. i. b. 
See too Maitland's London, i. 142. Of getting 
wills made in their favour, see Rapin, iv. 437. It 
is well known they were great instruments of sedi- 
tion. Wickliff himself (and others) says, " Yf they 
seien that it (the host) is goddis body, and many 
freris seien the contrary.'' MS. Roy. Lib. 18. B. 
IX. f. 187, b. 

f For while Fortune is thy friend, Friers will the 
love, [beseche 

And fetche the to their fraternitie and for the 
To her prior provinciall a pardon to have. 

Piers Plowman, f. liii. b. 

There were letters of fraternity, of various kinds. 
" Lay people of all sorts, men and women, married 
and single, desired to be inrolled in spiritual frater- 
nities, as thereby enjoying the spirituall prerogatives 
of pardon, indulgence, and speedy dispatch out of 
purgatory." Smith's Lives of the Berkeley Family, 
MS. iii. 443. Those, however of the Friers had a 
peculiar sanctity. Piers Plowman, speaking of the 
day of judgment, says, 

A poke full of pardon, ne provincial letters 

Though ye be founden in the fraternitie of the 
iiii orders. f. xxxviii. b. 

These letters of fraternity are of the most remote 
antiquity, and several of them have been published. 
There were also letters of fraternity between diffe- 
rent Convents for mutual defence ; for, in the year 
1251, certain Prelates and Religious, finding that 
the Popes and Bishops, formerly their friends, 
became their persecutors and oppressors, combined 
together, that bearing one another's burthens, they 
might be less heavily felt (M. Paris, 700 ;) and a 
similar thing was enjoined in 1444, on account of 



174 



FRIARS, 



prestes al if it be agens himself, is 
stifle susteyned bi freris, and so men 
sufficen not to tell insensible errours 
that thei susteynen, and zit for privy- 
lege of the Pope, none othir man dar 
blame hem, for thei ben exempt fro 
Goddis lawe bi prevelygees that they 

general dislike. Cap. Gen. Northamp. ejusd. arm. 
cap. ix. It seems, that by letters of confederation 
between different houses (it is not precisely men- 
tioned of what kind), the Monks bound themselves 
down to what they could not perform, and on this 
account a remedy was to be found by the General 
Chapter. Reyn. Append. 108. W. Thorne men- 
tions agreements between different houses to receive 
in hospitality each the other's Monks ; also if any 
Monk, not convicted of a notorious crime, came 
there, he was to be charitably entertained till con- 
signed in peace to his own house ; and if an Abbot 
was elected from another house, the brethren of 
such house were to come to the other to celebrate 
the election canonically. C. 16, sect. 9. C. 23, 
sect. 4. C. 28, sect. 8. The object of some of these 
confederations was, that the Monks, when driven 
from one place, should have a refuge in another. 
Ibid. They lapsed into oblivion in many places, 
though preserved at St. Augustine's, Canterbury. 
W. Thorne, 1924. The spiritual privileges of the 
first kind of letters of fraternity were also extended 
to Monks, Clerks, and Canons ; and such perons 
were called Fratres externi. Du Cange, in voce. 
The form of admitting a Monk into fraternity was 
this : he was introduced into the Chapter ; and, 



hangetun; but Peter was not exempt 
fro scharp snybbyng of Poul theiling 
that John forfendide hath no virtu 
among these freris ; for they saluten 
often fiendis more than thei doe Cristis 
children." 3 

after Benedicite, prostrated himself on the step ; 
the question was then put, what he wanted, which 
was suitably answered by the Abbot, who ordered 
him to rise, and he received the society of the house 
by the book of the Rule. The Abbot then gave 
him the kiss of peace, which he returned by pro- 
stration at his feet ; then he returned to the step, 
made three genuflexions, and the Monks continued 
bowing to him till he went to the seat the Abbot 
ordered. To an Abbot the Convent rose when he 
entered the Chapter, and he sat next the Prelate of 
the house, and kissed the Monks when they left 
the Chapter. A Secular person took the society 
upon the Gospel, and, if male, kissed the Monks in 
circuit. Dec. Lanfr. Wickliff takes another 
opportunity of censuring these letters of fraternity. 
See Dialogi, pars 4, c. 30, fol. cxlix. seq. of the 
Ed. 1525, of which, as being excessively scarce, it 
is necessary to note, there are two later editions, 
and perhaps more. 

N. B. The curious reader will find much valuable 
information of the Mendicant Orders in one of 
the Chapters of Mr. Warton's History of English 
Poetry. 

a MS. Roy. Libr. 18. B. IX. f. 186, 7. (Wickliff's 
Omelies.) They were printed, I believe, in the 
16th century at Leipsic. 



NOVICES, 



175 



CHAPTER XXIX, 



NOVICES. 



The profession of Monachism was 
considered as a kind of second bap- 
tism : a but the main motive for being 
so baptised^ was, it seems, good eating. b 
Except, however, in the Mendicant 
Orders, who stole and kidnapped chil- 
dren, this privilege was by no means 
easily obtained. The difficulty suffi- 
ciently appears^ by the king^s some- 
times sending letters to request admis- 
sion for certain persons, and founders 
and benefactors reserving a right of 
having a Monk or Nun of their own 
appointments Instances are upon 
record of poverty and insufficiency, 
upon examination, being respectively 
causes of rejection, and of a preference 
given to noble or at least legitimate 
birth being complained of. e John, 
21st Abbot of St. Albany made a 
statute, that the number of Monks in 
that Abbey should never exceed 100, 
unless any person was famous for rank 
or science, or his admission requested 
by a powerful man, whom it might be 
dangerous to offend. f Richard the 
First complained of the Monks and 
Canons of his sera, that they associated 
to themselves tanners and shoe-makers, 
not one of whom ought, with propriety, 
or his knowledge, to be made a Bishop 
or Abbot ;& and this complaint, which 
is re-echoed in the Plowman's tale, 
erroneously ascribed to Chaucer, re- 
ceives further confirmation by an 
injunction [from the Augustinian 
Rule], that "suche as enter power into 
Religion [should not] looke with hye 
contynaunce because they be associat 



a Calvin, Instit. Theol. 451. 

b Ut bene pascant omnes cupiunt monachari, 

Moab et Agarem, Gebal et Amnion. 

All wisb to be Monks for tbe sake of good 
eating, &c. MS. Harl. 913, f. 55. 

c Monast. ii. 804. d Id. i. 691. 

e M. Par. 268, 995, 996, 1016, 1019. 
* Id. (2d.) 1043. k Gervas, 1595. 



with theym, unto whom they durste 
not come, when they were abrode in 
the worlde." h Benedict allowed pre- 
sents to be made at admission of 
Monks, provided that the use of them 
was reserved by the donors for their 
lives. 1 Simony, however, was common 
under the name of the price of their 
clothes, and customs of the house ; k and 
lands were frequently given, as the 
purchase of admission. 1 Sometimes 
only mere interest was used ; " Also 
she had two doughters, whiche bothe 
were made Nonnes at Catesby in North- 
amptonshire, by the labor of theyr 
broder Edmunde/' m 

The age of admission and profession 
it is not very easy to decide. In some 
Rules, the boys offered to Monasteries 
were not to be younger than ten or 
twelve years, because they did not 
then require attention, and knew how 
to avoid faults. 11 Any Monk, say the 
Clugniac Rules, can offer a boy, and 
the Chamberlain then took him to the 
Vestiary, and clothed him in the 
habit of a Novice, except that he did 
not wear a stamin, but a linen shirt. 
He was then offered in the same man- 
ner as a boy presentedby his parents ; and 
he was professed at fifteen years of age. 
The Monks of St. Augustine^ Can- 
terbury, obtained a bull, that boys 
under fifteen years of age should not 
be received in the house, because seve- 
ral Abbots, through fear or interest, 
had admitted children to the habit who 
had scarcely left the breast. In the 
Anglo-Saxon period four infants, not 
seven years old, were educated under 



h MS. Bodl. 3010. * Reg. C. 59. 

k Cone. Oxon. a 1222. Can. 39. Dev. Vie 
Mon. ii. 497, 501, 4. 

1 Monast. i. 39, 42. 

m Gold. Leg. cexvii. 

n Du Cange, v. Nutriti Oblati. 

• Chronol. August. Cant. & W. Tho. C. 12. 
sect. 13. 



176 



NOVICES. 



the Rule of Religion.* 1 Hugh the 
Lincolne Saint, Ci whan he was ten 
yere, was put into a Monastery for to 
lerne the rules of discypline, and there 
was made and professyd a Chanon 
reguler ; wherein he lyvid so devoutly 
that when he was xv yere olde he was 
deputet for to be a Priour of a certayn 
celle/' b One William Pigun, a Monk 
of St. Alban's, applied to his Abbot for 
the admission of a nephew; but the 
Abbot declined it "because he was 
under age, and therefore unfit;" but 
he was nevertheless received at Peter- 
borough, c The Canons ordered no one 
to be professed a Monk till eighteen 
years old, without a necessity, as a 
deficiency of Monks for divine service, 
or utility, as powerful connections, 
skill in art or science, or temporal wis- 
dom. This statute, Canonists said, 
was special in islands, on account of the 
superior severity of the climate and 
religion, but they confessed that they 
did not find it observed even there. d 
Alexander III. forbad any profession 
of virginity till the age of fourteen 
years; the council of Trent till sixteen; 
more ancient councils till twenty-five ; 
Gregory the First not before sixty; 
Bellarmin till the age of puberty, 
fourteen in males, and twelve in 
females. 43 There was a statute made, 
that boys under twelve years of age, 
should not be received by the Mendi- 
cants into their Orders ; which was 
opposed by William Folville, a Fran- 
ciscan of Lincoln. f The renewal of 
the Gregorian statutes ordered no No- 
vice to be professed till he had attained 
his fifteenth year, and the Convent of 
St. A man's returned "observed," to 
this as well as other points of the 
Benedictine Rule on this head, except 
that they were admitted to profession 
before the terminations of the year of 
probation. 11 A General Chapter 1 of 

a Hist. Rames. C. lxvii. They did not become 
Monks. 

b Gold. Leg. f. ccxviii. b. c M. Par. 1048. 

(1 Lyndw. 202. Fuller's Ch. Hist. 297. 

e Le Voeu de Jacob, iv. 29. 

f Fabric. Biblioth. M. Mvi, iii. 432. 

e Deer. Lanfr. C. 18. h M. Par. 1098, 1040. 

1 North. a c 1225. sect. De Proprietate. 



the thirteenth century enacted, that 
unless from commendable utility, 
Monks should not be received under 
twenty years of age. The general sta- 
tutes of the Franciscans, in the recep- 
tion of Novices, prescribe, that, "they 
shall be legitimately born, and sixteen 
years old at least; " k and Henry's visi- 
tors order, " that no man be sufferyd 
to professe, or to were the habit of reli- 
gion in this house, or he be xxiiii years 
of age ; and that they entice or allure 
no man with skeusacions and blan- 
diments to take the religion uppon 
him.^l The lawful age of profession 
in Nuns was after they had passed 
their twelfth year; and they were, ipso 
facto, to be judged professed, after they 
had passed more than a year in the 
society, though they were to be con- 
secrated by the Bishop, at the proper 
season, when twenty-five years old, 
and not before.™ However, Alan, 
Canon of Beneventum, was nearly five 
years a Novice of Canterbury. 11 M. 
Paris mentions a person who had lived 
three years a Novitiate. And among 
the Clugniacs many were never pro- 
fessed, and others forty years before 
that took place, owing to their being 
obliged to go beyond sea, for such 
purposed 

Novices were of various sorts, as 
Clerks, Laymen, and those already 
Monks, of which there were three 
kinds. 1. Those from other Monas- 
teries. 2. Those from their own cells. 
3. Those from a Monastery of their 
own Order.*! 

Certain forms of the habit worn 
were alone sufficient, among other spi- 
der's webs equally frivolous, to consti- 
tute, without profession, an obligation 
to remain in the Order. 1 " 

It appears, that women were much 



k De novitiorum receptione, setatem attingens 
xvi annorum ad minus, legitime natus. MS. Bodl. 
1882, p. 44. 

1 MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 24. a, See Stowe, 
a 1535. 

m Lynd. 202. 

» Gervas, 1456. ° P. 1031. 

p Reyner, Append. 148, 9. 

i Du Cange, v. Novitii. 

r Lyndw. 202, 203. 



NOVICES. 



177 



more ready to take the vows than men, 
especially when in trouble ; that a per- 
son under the age of puberty could not 
take them without the consent of the 
father; nor a woman after cohabitation 
without that of the husband; nor a 
Bishop, but by papal permission ; a that 
old persons were advised not to do it, 
lest after tonsure they should wish to 
withdraw ; b and that many were deter- 
red, by dread of having the lives of the 
Saints, and divine service, to get by 
heart, in consequence of which suita- 
ble dispensations were granted. As 
to making Nuns by force, Peter of 
Blois loudly declaims against it. d The 
nobility so crowded Nunneries, that 
Papal prohibitions were often obtained. e 
By the Norman Institutes/ persons 
coming to conversions were received 
where other guests were, and the arri- 
val announced to the Abbot, who, or a 
deputed person, spoke on the subject 
with the applicant. Then, after the 
opinion of the Chapter was taken, if 
the Abbot decided upon his admission, 
the Hosteler introduced him into the 
Chapter, where he lay prostrate ; upon 
this, some questions were put to him, and 
the severities of the Order announced. 11 
If after this he persisted, the Pre- 

a Lyndw. 203, 4. 

b Cumque senex fueris non debesclaustrasubire, 
ne post tonsuram fortasse velis resilire. MS. Bodl. 
2159, f. 207. 

c Nonnulli etiam viri hilares religionem. nostram 
ingiv,di affectantes cum historiarum multitudinem 
solicite considerant, timore percussi e proposito 
recedunt ; praedictasque historias una cum reliquo 
totius anni servicio [cum] omnes inter nos religio- 
nem ingredientes more antiquitus observato, plene 
corde tenus reddere teneantur : salva dispensatione 
cum viris multum babilibus, seu in scolis statum 
habentibus, in toto vel in parte, prout abbas indica- 
verit facienda : considerantes etiam noctium brevi- 
tatem tempore sestatis, volumus, et ordinamus, &c. 
[to dispense with them at given times.] MS. 
Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 242, a. (Const. Tho. Abb. 
S. Alb. a. 1351.) 

d Adelicia neptis vestra quod earn in monasterium 
detrudere et claustrali vultis invitam et renitentem 
custodise mancipare, &c. MS. King's Library 3. 
F. xvii. sect. Quod non est mulier monachanda 
in vita. 

e Parkin's Norwich, 298. 

f Deer. Lanfr. C. 18. De Novitiis suscipiendis. 

£ Those who entered adults. See Du Cange, v. 
Nutriti. 

h A person newly coming to conversion has 



sident of the Chapter proclaimed his 
admission, and the Novice kissing his 
feet, retired to the Church, and sat 
down before one of the Altars out of 
the Choir till the Chapter was finished. 
Then followed the benediction of the 
tonsure, shaving of his head, and 
robing him in the Monastic habit, all 
which was accompanied with suitable 
religious offices. Thus prepared, he 
was led into the Convent ; and went 
last of the Clerks, if a Clerk ; of the 
Laymen, if a Secular ; and took rank 
in the Processions, Chapter, and Re- 
fectory, according to the time of his 
conversion. He slept in the chamber 
of the Novices, or, where there was no 
such appointment, in the Dormitory ; 
he did not read in the Convent ; never 
sung alone ; did not offer at Mass ; did 
not take the peace ; sat apart in the 
Cloister with his master in the place 
appointed for the Novices ; and no one 
spoke to, or made a sign to him, with- 
out leave of the Master; but when any 
one of the Monks conversing in the 
Cloister wished to reprove or advise 
him, he could, by leave of the Master, 
do so. When he was accused of a 
fault, he immediately rose and solicit- 
ed pardon, like the Monks in Chapter, 
nor sat till his Master ordered him to 
do so. For greater faults, he was 
either chidden or beaten in the Chap- 
ter or Chamber of the Novices. He 
went out daily from the Chapter, and 
remained in the interim in the Church, 
except he staid for punishment. He 
made frequent confessions of the faults 
he committed, both before and after 
he took the habit, to the Abbot, Prior, 
or person deputed by them. After 
certain days the Master advised him to 
procure the Prior and some Seniors to 
intercede with the Abbot for his bene- 



not an easy admission, but is mocked (deluditur), 
and proved in various ways according to that text 
of the Apostle, " Try the spirits, whether they be 
of God." It then mentions a parent, who was 
ordered to throw his son into a river, in order to try 
his obedience, who was however restrained by the 
Monks. After this he was treated as above. (Of 
the Cistertians.) Monast. Thuringianum, p. 890. 

N 



178 



NOVICES, 



diction and profession. Upon a fixed 
day, after the reading of the Rule was 
finished in the Chapter, he prostrated 
himself at the Abbot's feet, and made 
his petition; he was then ordered to 
rise, and the severities of the Order 
were announced to him; upon his 
answer, that he would patiently endure 
them, the Abbot consulted the Monks 
upon his request, and if they consented, 
he went to the Abbot or presiding offi- 
cer's feet, then returned to his place, 
and bowing, thanked the Monks for 
their intercession. Afterwards, upon 
the Abbot's order, he retired with his 
master ; and, if he could write, wrote 
out the schedule of profession; or, if 
he could not write, another, provided 
by the Chantor, did it for him ; and he 
only made a cross. Then, till the time 
of benediction, he took off his hood 
from his gown, and remained out of 
the Choir; which time, whether before 
the beginning of Mass, if the Abbot 
did not celebrate, or after the Gospel, 
if he did or not, was in the option of 
the Abbot; though it was his duty to 
celebrate that office if convenient. 
The Gospel then being read, he enter- 
ed the Choir, his master preceding 
him, and prostrated himself at the step 
of the Altar, while a psalm was sung, 
upon the conclusion of which he rose 
and read his profession (or his master 
instead, if he could not read), and then 
laid it upon the Altar. After this 
he knelt before the Altar, and request- 
ed pardon; then going to his former 
place, he said three times, kneeling, 
" Receive me, O Lord!" which was 
each time re-echoed by the Convent. 
At the Doxology he turned round and 
prostrated himself Then followed a 
religious service ; after which the 
Novice arose, and the Abbot sprinkled 
him and his hood with holy water. He 
then took off his gown, as he knelt 
before him, saying, "The Lord take 
away from you the old man ivith his 
deeds;" and, putting on the hood, bade 
him be clothed with the new man ; to 
all which the Convent returned, Amen. 
Then, after a prayer, while the Novice 
kneeled, the Abbot kissed him, and put 



the hood on his head; a then he was 
led through the Choir for all the Monks 
to kiss him, and was placed last. For 
three days he took the Sacrament, and 
on the third the hood was taken from 
his head. b Before that time he pre- 
served a constant silence; left the 
Chapter after the sentence of the Rule 
was read, went in no procession, and 
slept in his hood. In the first Chap- 
ter, in which he was allowed to speak, c 
his master solicited licence for him to 
read and sing in the Convent like the 
others; to which assent was given, and 
he could then perform all services 
except Mass, which he could not cele- 
brate till a year after, unless by especial 
commission. 

When a boy was offered, after his 
hair was cut round/ he was presented, 
carrying the Host and Chalice, by his 
parents to the Priest celebrating at the 
Mass. The parents then wrapped his 
hands in the pall of the Altar, and read 
a written promise, that they would use, 
directly or indirectly, no inducement 
for him to leave the Order, or knowingly 
give him any thing ; which promise 
they laid upon the Altar. The Abbot 



a Novices did not anciently wear hoods at St. 
Alban's. M. Paris, 1045. 

b In the Capitula of Theodore (Abp. Cant.) it 
is ordered, that the Abbot in the profession of a 
Monk should say Mass and three prayers over his 
head for seven days, cover his head with a hood, 
and on the seventh take the veil from the head, as 
the Priest did from that of infants in Baptism, the 
susception of Monachism being considered by the 
fathers as a second baptism. Du Cange, v. Velum. 

c Novices were to leave the Chapter immediately 
after the portion of the Rule appointed for the day 
was read (though some Abbots allowed them to 
stay), lest, taking disgust at the disciplines, they 
should decline profession, and expose the secrets 
of the house. Reyn. App. 196. However, on 
the third day after profession, they took their first 
seat, and then swore, [at S. Aug. Cant.] to the 
utmost of their power, not to suffer the house to 
be bound for other's debts, or reveal its secrets. 
X Script. 2062. The Friers never allowed them to 
attend the Chapter at all. Speght's Chaucer, 617. 

d Cutting off the hair in the Monks was a sym- 
bol of servitude to God, slaves being shorn. When 
Monks were shorn, the first locks were cut off by 
the King, or great men. To offer a lock of hair to 
a Monastery was to become partaker of its prayers, 
&c. In 697, an offerer pulled off his shoes, went 
to the Altar, and offered a lock of hair. (Du 
Cange, v. Capilli.) The beard was also consecrated 
to God, when they became Monks. (Id. v. Bariam 
radere.) 



NOVICES. 



179 



then consecrated his hood, and, after 
divesting him of his Secular habit, 
put it on with a preceding prayer. He 
was then taken out to be shaved and 
robed, according to the Order. Later 
eeras used this supplication, "Attend, 
O Lord, to our prayers, and deign to 
bless this thy servant, upon Avhom, in 
thy holy name, we place the habit of 
religion, that, by thy assistance, he may 
continue devout in the Church, and 
deserve to inherit eternal life.^ a These 
Norman institutes formed the basis of 
all subsequent English Monachism, 
and, like a great Roman road, are to be 
conspicuously traced in the later forms 
of profession. D At Abingdon, when 
the Abbot said, " We speak of the 
Order," the candidates for profession 
rose, and went to the reading-desk, and 
solicited pardon. The Abbot then 
asked them, what they said ? to which 
they replied, "We ask permission of 
the Virgin Mary, and our master, St. 
Benedict, that you would grant us 
leave to be professed." Then the 
A-bbot spoke what was usual on such 
occasions ; after which, they advanced 
and said, " By the Grace of God, and 
the blessing of you and the Convent, 
we will behave well." This was fol- 
lowed by prayers, and kissing the hands 
and feet of the Abbot; after which they 
went to the place where they had sat 
in the beginning of the Chapter, made 
their inclination, and went in the usual 



a Ad pueros sacro liabitu induendum. Adesto, 
Domine, supplicationibus nostris, ethunc famulum 
tuuni benedicere dignare, cui in hoc sancto nomine 
habitum sacrae religionis imponinms, ut te largi- 
ente et devotus in ecclesia. persistere, et vitam per- 
cipere mei-eatur seternam. MS. Cott. Tiber. B. 
viii. f. 115, b. 

b Cum dixit abbas, " Loquimnr de ordine 
nostro," tunc surgant qui petunt professionem, et 
eant ad analogium ; sibi capiant veniam : tunc dicet 
abbas, Quiddicitis? tunc dicet prior eorum, petimus 
veniam de Sanctae Maria? et nostri magistri Sancti 
Benedict!, &c. ut vos concedatis nobis benedictio- 
nem monachatus. Tunc dicet abbas quae dicenda 
sunt : postquam perrexerint dicent ipsi qui petunt 
professionem, per graciam Dei et vestram benedic- 
tionem et conventus faciemus bene. Tunc dicet abbas 
(prayers to which the Convent answered Amen) : 
tunc osculentur pedes et manus abbatis ; tunc ibunt 
ad locum quo prius sedebant in principio capituli, 
et faciant ibi ante et retro et exeant more solito et 
eant ad ecclesiam. MS. Cott. Claud. C. ix. f. 184. 



manner to the Church. The ritual 
from this period thus takes up the 
ceremony. The Convert was led into 
the Church, and the psalm Miserere 
was sung ; after which followed appro- 
priate prayers, then such as were suited 
to the consecration of the habit ; and 
to putting off the secular, and assuming 
the monastic one. This was succeed- 
ed by a particular prayer, and the kiss 
of peace being given by all, the Novice 
remained silent in Albs till the third 
day. c 

At Ensham, d when the Candidates 



c Permaneat cum summo silentio in albis, usque 
in tertium diem. MS. Cott. Tiber. B. viii. f. 114, 
b. Athon says, where the habits of the Novitiates 
and Professed are not different, the habit ought to 
be blessed at the time of profession. P. 143. 

d MS. Bodl. Barlow, 7, fol. 61. Deprofessione 
Novitiorum. Quando novitii facere debent profes- 
sionem, inter Evangelium vel ante pro tempore, 
ducantur ad altare S. Petri in vestiario, ubideponant 
cucullas suas, indutique tunicis et froccis, habentes 
cucullas suas super sinistra brachia, ducantur post 
Evangelium ante majus altare, singuli novitii singulis 
monachis, ita quod primus a. priore. Dicemus in 
eundo psm. Miserere. Quo finito stantes coram 
abbate, legant singuli singillatim voce mediocri 
professionem suam manibus propriis scriptam hoc 
modo [several of these have been printed.] Hac 
lecta, tradat quilibet professionis libellum in manum 
abbatis, et abbas ponat super altare. Quibus factis 
dicant omnes simul flexis genibus alta voce hunc 
versum, Suscipe me secundum eloquium tuum, et 
vivam ; et non confundas me ab expectatione mea ; 
hie versus a. conventu repetatur, et ita usque tertio 
ab eis dicatur, et a conventu repetatur, et ultimo 
(sic) cum Gloria prosternant se novicii super gradum 
medium in modum satisfactionis, et sequatur (a 
religious service). Interim novicii jaceant incurta 
venia ; hie surgant novicii, et ponant cucullas suas 
ad pedes abbatis. Abbas vero benedicat eos hoc 
modo (pr.) Hie aspergat cucullas aqua benedicta, 
er tunc exuat primum novicium frocco, et dicat 
exuendo, "Exuat te d'mnus veterem hominem cum 
actibus 57<w.'' Et omnes respondeant, Amen. Et 
cooperiat abbas capud novicii cum capucio, usque 
ad medietatem faciei, et ita faciat de singulis. Et 
tunc iterum prosternant se novicii super gradus in 
satisfactione ; et dicat abbas cum astantibus psal- 
mum, &c. Hie surgant novicii, et det eis abbas 
osculum pacis ; et sic semper velato capite ducantur 
in chorum singuli a singulis monachis osculum 
pacis recipientes. Quibus peractis sedeant ultimi 
in choro cum psalteriis suis, dum missa celebratur, 
et cum ventum fuerit ad Agnus Dei procedant, et 
recipiant osculum ab abbate, et postea communicent, 
et redeant ad stalla sua et psalteria. Et notandum 
quod licet ultimi sunt in choro, turn quicunque 
procedere debent cum conventu alii eos precedant ; 
et sciendum quod quandocunque lit processio ab 
eccl'ia in dormitorium, eant cum conventu ; quando 
vero in claustrum, remaneant in eccl'ia. Capitulum 
non intrent ; ante terciam oracionem eant in dormi- 
torium et ad lavatorium ; et faciant trinam oracionem 

n2 



180 



NOVICES. 



for profession were to make it, during 
the Gospel, or before, they were led to 
the Altar of St. Peter in the Vestiary, 
where they put aside their hoods, and, 
in their tunics and frocks, with their 
hoods on their left arms, were brought 
after the Gospel before the great Altar, 
every Novice being led by a Monk, 
the first by the senior Prior. In going, 
the psalm Miserere was sung ; after 
which, standing before the Abbot, 
every Novice, singly, in a low voice, 
read his profession written with his 
own hand, and then delivered it to the 
Abbot, who placed it upon the altar. 
After this, all together kneeling said, 
in a loud voice, the precatory petition 
for reception, which was repeated three 
times both by them and the Convent 
in answer ; after which, at the Doxolo- 
gy, they prostrated themselves upon 
the middle step of the altar, while a 
religious service was performed. Then 
they arose and put their hoods at the 
Abbot's feet, who consecrated them, 
sprinkled them with holy water, and 
stripped the first Novice of his frock, 
with the preceding form, to which the 
Convent replied Amen. The Abbot 
then covered the head of the Novice 
with his hood, as low as half of his 
face, and did the same with the rest. 
The Novices then again prostrated 
themselves, and the Abbot and stand- 
ers-by sung a psalm. Here they arose, 
the Abbot gave them the kiss of peace, 
and to receive this from the other 
Monks they were led round the Choir 
with their heads covered. After these 
ceremonies, they sat last in the Choir, 
with their psalters, while the Mass was 



semper velato capite ; et niclril ad diurnas horas alta 
voce apponant, sed dirnisse (sic) omnia dicant cum 
conventu. Noctibus vero induti cucullis jaceant 
ante matutinas in dormitorio ; post matutinas vero 
post processionem in dormitorium ducantur in 
ecclesiam, et residuum noctis in meditatione sc'a 
et psalmis, &c. peragant ; et ita fiat per duos dies 
et duas noctes. Tertia vero die veniant ad missam 
abbatis, sive abbas celebret, sive eo impotente cele- 
brare alius missam celebraverit ; et cum ventum 
fuerit ad Agnus Dei suscipiant osculum pacis ab 
abb'e, et communicant; et cum communicant abbas 
discooperiat capita eorum : et post missam faciat 
abbas eis sermonem, exponens eis quod talis debet 
esse prima mouachi, cmalem jam inceperunt, et 
postea ducantur in conventum. 



celebrated, and at the Agnus Dei pro- 
ceeded to receive the kiss from the 
Abbot, and afterwards communicated, 
and returned to their stalls and psalters. 
Although last in the Choir, those who 
were to go out with the Convent went 
before others ; and when there was a 
procession from the Church to the 
Dormitory, they went with the Con- 
vent ; when to the Cloister, they staid 
in the Church. They did not enter 
the Chapter; they went to the Dormi- 
tory and Lavatory before the triple 
prayer, which they said with their hoods 
on, and sung nothing at the daily hours 
with the Convent with a loud voice, 
but joined the Convent at all services 
in a lowly form. At nights, before 
Mattins, they slept in the Dormitory 
with their hoods on. After Mattins, 
when the procession to the Dormitory 
was finished, they passed the rest of 
the night in the Church, in meditation 
and psalmody; and this was done for 
two days and nights. On the third 
day they came to the Abbot, or who- 
ever celebrated the Mass, and at the 
Agnus Dei received the kiss of peace 
from him, and communicated ; upon 
which the Abbot uncovered their heads; 
and, after the Mass, he made a sermon 
to them, explaining, that such as they 
had begun, so they ought to conti- 
nue ; after which, they joined the 
Convent/ 1 The professions of the 
Monks were entered in a book called 
Pactum J 3 

Their previous duties as Novices 
still however remain to be shown. 

fl It seems that there was a liberty in some places 
of sending to what bishop they pleased to make 
professions and confer orders upon their monks, 
and tbat they sometimes selected in this respect 
with a view to prevent exaction. Hist. Eliens. 
L. 2. C. 9. However, the usual Rule was for 
them. to be ordained by the bishop of the diocese ; 
for this is a common item in bulls of exemption. 
Monast. i. 54, &c. Notwithstanding which, ordi- 
nation by any bishop was a proof of exemption. 
M. Paris, 1026. It seems, upon being promoted 
to priesthood, great feasts were given with a large 
assembly of Seculars. Monast. ii. 718. After 
profession, they were named from the places they 
came from ; but it is strange tbat tbey should be so 
absurd as to name a Monk Henricus de Urinaria. 
Smith's Catalogue of the Cotton MSS. p. 201, 
under Tiber. A. viii. 

b Du Cange, in voce. 



NOVICES. 



181 



Among the Gilbertines they were not 
set down in the table to any Church 
duty, or were readers or attendants at 
dinner, as among the Benedictines 
(where I suspect the custom crept in 
latterly. M. Paris, 1045.) though they 
rose for this purpose when necessary. 
They performed only certain parts in 
divine service, nor celebrated Mass. 
though Priests. They read only occa- 
sionally at Collation and Chapter ; nor 
went to work constantly till they had 
learned the whole service. They com- 
municated (having previously confessed 
to the master) eight times j)er coin. He 
was punishable in Chapter for their 
misbehaviour. 3 - The Prior was to 
awake the Monks at such an hour, say 
Lanfranc's decretals, that the bovs, 
after the usual prayers, might read in 
the Cloister ; who, when they began 
to read loudly, were to sit so far apart, 
as not to touch one another either with 
their hands or clothes. No sign, speech, 
or locomotion, was to be made without 
the knowledge or leave of the master ; 
and one of these, wherever they went, 
was to be between two boys. They 
bowed to the Monks in passing, which 
was returned by those who were sitting. 
One lantern was to be enough for two 
Novices ; if there were three, a third 
carried another; and so in proportion. 
They neither gave nor took any thing 
without leave, and in fit places, except 
from the Chantor, with regard to the 
books they read or sung in, or when 
serving at an Altar. They were beaten 
in their Chapter; and in confession, 
while one was with the Confessor, an- 
other sat on a stool, their master being 
just by. If they were tardy in entering 
the Refectory or Choir, they went to 
their usual places, made their bow, and 
their master took the place of those who 
were late. Abstinence of meat or drink 
could not be enjoined on the Novice 
that attended the Abbot, without his 
order ; in which last case he was either 
indulged, or, in the interim, removed 
from his office. When the Abbot 
was present in the Choir, no one beat 



or stripped them without his leave ; 
but, in his absence, the Chantor might 
correct them in matters relating to his 
office, and the Prior where they be- 
haved with levity. No one but these 
could make a sign to or smile upon 
them ; or enter their school, or talk 
to them, without licence. At mid- 
day they only rested in their beds 
covered; and at night, till they were 
covered, the masters attended with a 
lantern. 

The boys had breakfast in the morn- 
ing, and ate meat till fourteen years old. 
The Rule was explained to them every 
day, and they sung in the Choir, im- 
moveablv, with their faces inclined to 
the ground. b 

Young men brought up in the house, 
or just come from the world, were 
treated in many things in a similar 
manner ; sitting apart; never going any 
where without a keeper ; carrying lan- 
terns two and two, and making their 
confessions only to the Abbot, Prior, 
or deputed person ; not reading at 
midday in their beds; not writing; 
not doing any work ; only sleeping 
covered, the beds being either before 
or between those of the masters; if they 
wanted to rise, they awoke their mas- 
ters ; and, a lantern being lighted, they 
accompanied them for the purpose 
needed. In their own place, no one 
sat near, spoke, or made a sign to them 
without leave; and then the master 
sat between ; nor could they talk toge- 
ther, unless the masters were between 
or before them. When they went to 
sleep, the masters stood before them 
till they were laid down. In the 
Church, Fratry, and Chapter, they 
mixed with the Seniors, without obser- 
ving rank, if necessary. If they read 
at the table, or served in the kitchen, 
they went with the Monks, when they 
rose from table, to the Church, and, 
after saying a prayer, returned with 
their keepers to the Refectory ; two 
together, or more, if possible, remaining 
of the Convent. In case, however, of 
a paucity of Seniors, and a great number 



a Monast, ii, 718, 



b Du Cange, v, Comeatio, Infantes, 



182 



NOVICES. 



of Juniors, sufficient guardians were 
deputed ; and, if the custom of some 
houses was more agreeable, they sat 
apart in the Cloister in separate places ; 
every one carried a lantern ; and 
their guardians never left them, unless 
under the care of another in whom they 
could confide. 

Among the Friars, " during silence 
they were to beware making a noise at 
others ; whenever reproved by the 
Superior, to ask pardon ; to contend 
with nobody, but in all things obey 
their master; in processions to wait 
for their comrade, and not talk at impro- 
per places and seasons. When any 
garment was given them, to bow hum- 
bly, and say lowly [thanks] ; if they 
saw any thing done licentiously, to 
conceive the bad good, or suspect it 
done with a good intention, when there 
was no accusation in the Chapter, or 
reproof elsewhere/' a They were not 
to have an office till they knew by heart 
what they had to learn ; nor till then 
be dismissed from custody, or pro- 
moted to Priesthood ; nor were they 
to sleep or dine out before they had 
been laudably conversant in the Clois- 
ter, nor to have a chest, or key, or 
out-door office, or be sent out of the 
house till they had been two years 
well behaved ; except in cases of ur- 
gency or utility, or except they were 
old men. b They had recreations of 
play, it seems, in the morning, and 



a Ut aliis rugitum non faciant, ubicumque repre- 
hensi fuerint a prselato veniam petant. Ut cum 
nemine contendere prsesumant, sed in omnibus 
magistro suo obediant ; ubique ad processionem 
socium sibi collateralem attendant, et non loquantur 
locis et temporibus inter dictis. Quum quodpiam 
vestimentidabitur,profundeinclinantes .... demis- 
sius dicant &c. Si quse ab aliquo fieri viderint 
licenter, videantur mala, bona suspicentur vel bona 
intention e facta ; quum nemo in capitulo vel ubi- 
cumque reprehensus fuerit, sic faciendum. MS. 
Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 170, b. 

b M. Par. 1095. Cap. Gen. North'. 1444. C. 10. 

e Nee etiam ludendi causa matutinali tempore, 
cum aliis egrediendi, &c MS. Cott. Cleop. B. II. 
p. 229, sect. Pro Noviciis, &c. " Sometimes in 
the week, at suitable hours, by leave of their mas- 
ters, they were used to alleviate the severities of the 
Rule by puerile discourse and conversation (loca- 
tione, orig. it should be, I think, loewtione) out of 
the Cloister. On a certain day, therefore, as usual, 
going out to play with an attendant, they ran to the 



perhaps in the afternoon ; for, says an 
old poet, 

The zung Monkes each daie, 
Aftur met goth to plai. d 

Such discipline was observed in 
some Monasteries, that, in a proces- 
sion of the Infants, apples were order- 
ed to be thrown upon the Church pave- 
ments to allure the boys, but no one, 
even of the smallest, appeared to attend 
to it. e 

According to the scriptural declara- 
tion, u He that hath said to his father 
and mother, I knowe yee not, and to 
his bretherne I knowe ye not, and hath 
not knowne his owne children, they 
have kept thy worde;" f they were to 
forget filial affections, " and this not of 
any stifnes or hardnes of harte, for if 
a meere stranger unto them be in 
miserie, they mourne as easily for him 
as for another, but the sworde is yt 
that we spake of, that is in their harte, 
and hathe cut them awaye from their 
wonted aquayntance and affinitie, not 
for that they have to love hem still, that 
love also their very enimyes, but be- 
cause they have cast awaie all carnall 
love which groweth often to meere do- 
tage, and have converted the same 
wholly to spirituall charitie."£ Both 
duty and affection still however sub- 
sisted. 11 

To be reduced to the state of a No- 
vice was a punishment.i 

This article would be unsatisfactory 
were there not added some cursory 
Observations upon the Education of 
Monks and Nuns, in a brief view ; for 
more would require a volume. 

Learning the Service and the Rule, 
was the chief part of the Education of 

ropes and broke the bell." Hist. Rames. Cap. 
lxvii. See sect. Common House. 

d MS. Harl. 913, f. 4. It is possible that this 
may allude to the conversations allowed after 
Nones ; but it is equally possible that the season of 
relaxation for Monks was that also of Novitiates*. 

, e Du Cange, v. Infantes. f Deut. 33. 

s MS. Harl. 1805, f. 57, b. (Tract of Novices.) 

h Eadmer. Histor. Novor. p. 8, records an 
instance of a pension paid by a Monk to his 
mother, from money given by Lanfranc. See too 
§§ Guesthall, and Almonry. 

* Du Cange, v. Novitii. 



NOVICES. 



183 



a Nun, as well as of a Monk. a Psal- 
mody was so urged, that the Novice, 
when studying in the Cloister, was to 
make himself perfect in his Psalter, 
so as to say it by heart to a word. b 
Bede remarks, that those who knew 
only their native language, were to be 
carefully taught to sing; for many 
became Monks late in life, and were 
called Conversi, as those who had been 
brought up in the house, and knew 
Latin, were distinguished by the term 
Nutriti. c After acquisition of the 
Psalter by heart, Latin (common be- 
cause the language of the Septuagint) 
was taught by the usual methods of par- 
sing and the parts of speech. d Though 
Langland says, that the Latin Grammar 
used was a Donate so called from Do- 
natus, a Grammarian of the 4th century, 
whose works, together with those of 
Priscian, were u.sed by iElfric ; yet, in 
fact, there were only three Grammars 
in use from the 6th to the 16th century. 
These were, Prisciair's, and Ville Dieu's 
Doctrinale Puerorum in verse, which 
appeared in the 13th century, and was 
superseded by Despautiere^s in the 
sixteenth/ The Dictionary was from the 
11th century that of Papias, which was 
enlargedby Ugution, and Hugh de Pisa ;S 
and these works were, no doubt, the 
bases of the Promptorium Parvulorwn 
of Richard Fraunceys, a preaching 
Friar, the first printed English and 
Latin Dictionary, which appeared in 
1499.* 1 The Cato, the Doctrinal, writ- 
ten by Sauvage, and other books, were 
works for construing, consisting of 
sentences, moralities, maxims of con- 
duct, and even precepts of behaviour ; 
some were composed of lessons and 
examples united, as the Chastisement 

a Dugd. Monast. ii. 895, 

b Du Cange, v. Firmare Cantum, 

c Id. v. Idiota, Nutriti. 

d Id. v. Partes edere. 

e Of the Donat of Wynkyn de Worde, which was 
very imperfect, see Dibdin's Ames, ii. 306, where 
is given a curious wood-cut of a Master and 3 boys. 

f Notices des MSS. v. 500—513. Mem. de 
Petrarque, ii. 179. 

s Ibid. Of those preceding, see Preface of Du 
Cange, and others. 

h Dibdin's Ames, ii. 416. See other books of 
the same kind noticed ib. pp. 155, 585. 



of a Father ; but the morals were very 
insipid. 1 Virgil was used by the Roman 
children, that so great a genius might 
not lapse into oblivion. k When the 
French language was universally taught 
from the Conquest to the 14th century, 
and children after learning to speak 
English were compelled to construe 
their lessons into French, a Virgil in 
that language was daily learned in 
schools. 1 In Monasteries, numerous 
quotations show, that it was familiar in 
the original. Ovid, iEsop's Fables, 
Boethius, and others, occur as favourite 
authors ; but bibliographical discussion 
is not within the plan or track of read- 
ing of the author. Writing was taught 
by copy-books, called Breviales Tabu- 
Ice-,™ and Arithmetick, or rather the 
Compotus, by counters, &c. of which 
elsewhere. 11 

The Education at Court was so bad, 
that from thence came first the Anglo- 
Saxon Eddel-knaven; and from this 
term, our Lazy Scoundrel. It is not 
singular then that Bishops should 
undertake the tuition of youths, whom 
they made Priests or Monks, or sent 
when adults in arms to the king;P or 
that it should be a privilege of founders 
for Abbeys to educate their children.^ 
They were first trained at home religi- 
ously, by their mothers, and taught a 
catechism. 1 ' When sent to the Monas- 
tery, about seven years old, or above, 
they were successively instructed in the 
Psalter by heart, the Septenary Arts, 
Musick, French, Latin ; often Agricul- 
ture, and the Mechanical Arts. 3 Hunt- 
ing, as a science and pastime auxiliary 
to warlike habits and strength of con- 
stitution, was understood by all Anglo- 
Saxon boys, 6 and Monks and Clergy- 
men of the whole middle age, Asceticks 
excepted. 



1 Notices, v. 159. 

k Augustin. de Civit. Dei, p. 6. 

I Biographia Britannica, hi. 351, 374. 
m Du Cange. 

II See Scriptorium and Exchequer. 

° Spelm. Archseologus, v. Adelscalc. 

v XV Script. 62. i Smythe's Berkeley MS. 

r X Script. 1056, 2647. 

» Script, p. Bed. 171, 509. X Script. 76, 77. 

* XV Script. 256. Script, p. Bed. 13. 



184 



NOVICES. 



The Education of Monks, in the 
early centuries, consisted of Psalmody, 
Musick, Notation of it, Accounts, 
Grammar, Writing, Turning, and Car- 
pentry; 21 hut in truth, every art known, 
especially Embroidery, was practised 
in Monasteries. Because idleness is 
inimical to the soul, manual lahour 
was prescrihed. b Ednoth, Monk of 
Ramsey, superintended building, and 
worked at it. c In Jewellery and Gold- 
smithes work, instances of skill are 
numerous, from Dunstan downwards. 
Walter de Colchester, Sacrist of St. 
Alhair's, was an excellent Painter and 
Sculptor. d Thomas de Bamburgh, 
Monk of Durham, was employed to 
make two great warlike engines for the 
defence of the town of Berwick; and 
Sir John Paston requests Harcort, of 
the Abbey, " to send him a little clokke 
which was sent him to be mended.*' f 
An astronomical clock, made by Light- 
foot, Monk of Glastonbury, about 
the year 1325, is still preserved at 
Wells. 

The Monks too engaged in civil and 
external avocations. Among the Clerks 
of the household to Edw. III. was a 
Monk of Bury;S and they were often 
Ambassadors. 11 Henry VII. employ- 
ed them as Spies. 1 They travelled 
from Monastery to Monastery, to teach 
musick. k 

The courtesies were duly regarded. 
Every Novice was to be instructed how 
to incline his head, not with an arched 
back, as was common to some ungen- 
teel persons, but in the Ante and Retro 
fashion, 1 before explained. This ap- 
plied to the Inclination a salutation 
made only to the Abbot and Prior. 111 
The Elders approved by the voice, the 
Juniors bv a bow of the head; the 



3 Du Cange, v. Xotce Musicce. 

b Theodulph. Aurelian. Epist. p. 263. 

c Hist. Rames, 1. 51. 

A M. Paris, 1054. 

c Liber Garderobre, 28 Ed. I. p. 73. 

f Paston Letters, ii. 30. 

s Royal Household, p. 10. 

b J. Rous, p. 73. M. Paris, 844. 

5 Henry's History of England, xii. 469. 

k See Muster of the Novices. 

1 Du Cange, v. Reverentia. m Id. 



Abbot nodded in token of assent. 11 
Peter of Clugny says, Ci whenever the 
brethren meet, the Junior seeks bene- 
diction from the Prior, by saying Bene- 
dicite [pie] if he should be out of the 
regular places, and humbly inclines; 
but he says nothing if he meets the 
Prior in the regular offices." They 
used to say Benedicite, and others to 
answer Dominus, in like sort, as the 
Priest and his penitent were wont to 
do at confession in the Church. The 
reply of Dominus [sit vobiscum] " the 
Lord be with you," was the usual 
salutation of Priests.P This may ex- 
plain a passage before left in doubt. 

Punishments and Rewards. The 
Ferule and Rod are Anglo-Saxon, <* but 
where the children were too young for 
this, the soles of their feet were pared 
with a knife. 1 ' Common Schoolmas- 
ters used to give their boys even fifty- 
three stripes at a time, and carry peb- 
bles in their pockets to pelt them 
with. 3 Ingulphus however says, that 
Abbot Turketul visited the school at 
least once a day, and distributed rewards 
of fruit and sweetmeats to deserving 
boys. 

Notwithstanding what has been said 
of Arithmetick, it was often a late 
study, commenced only at the Uni- 
versity. 1 

Pious Students kissed the bible when- 
ever they opened it for reading. 11 

Education of Nuns. In the Rule of 
Fontevraud, it is said, that Claustral 
Nuns knew little more than to sing 
Psalms, whence it is there ordered, that 
no Nun of this kind, through inability, 
should be made Abbes s. x If, how- 
ever, a girl was intended for a Nun, it 
was a matter of course to instruct her 
in letters ;Y and Nuns not only wrote 
upon parchment, 2 but even works in 

n Du Cange, v. Capitis inpexio. 
° Holinshed, ii. p. 9. (new edit.) 
p Du Cange, v. Officina—Pax. 
i Angl. Sacr. ii. 102, 103. 
■* Vita Alcuini. Du Cange, v. Acra. 
s Hawkins's Musick, ii. 125. 
1 X Script. 2433. ■ Id. 2434. 

x Du Cange, v. Claustrv.m. 
7 M. Paris, p. 80. 
* X Script. 378. Du Cange, v. Punctare, 



NOVICES, 



185 



Latin. a Among the duties of Ancho- 
resses and Nuns, is mentioned " vorst- 
ing of her sautre [Psalter], redyng of 
Englische, oder [or] of French, holi 
meditaciuns " b Henry says, that Nun- 
nery Education consisted of writing, 
drawing, confectionary, needle-work, 
physick, and surgery. Sir H. Chauncy 
says, that there was taught in them 
working, singing by notes, dancing, and 
playing upon instruments of musick. c 
Tumbling, playing, and dancing, all 
occur in Nunneries, the two former by 
professors itinerant. 01 Aubrey, speaking 
of the Nunnery of Kington St= Michael, 
says, "On the East side of the House 
is a ground facing the East, and the 
delightful prospect on the South East, 
called the Nymph Hay. Here Old 
Jaques, who lived on the other side, 
would say, he hath seen 40 or 50 nunnes 
in a morning, spinning with their wheels 
and bobbins." e Fuller says, Nuns with 
their needles wrote histories also ; that 
of Christ his passion, for their Altar- 
clothes, and other Scripture (and moe 
legend) stories in hangings to adorn 
their houses. f One particular accusa- 
tion against them was a miserly atten- 
tion to housewifery.? It was only 
ascetical asperity to make the remark. 
Joan Lady Berkeley, in the 13th cen- 
tury, when she came to the farm-houses, 
as oft as she did, to oversee, or take 
account of her dairy affairs, oftentimes 
spent in provision, at a meal there, the 
value of id. and A\d.\ and also a cheese 
of 2lbs. weight was at each time spent 
by her attendants. 11 The extraordinary 
accomplishments of Juliana Barnes are 
not singular. A young wife is described 
by Boccaccio as beautiful in her person, 
mistress of her needle, waiting at her 
husband's table as well as any man- 
servant, thoroughly discreet and well 
bred, skilled in horsemanship, and the 
management of a hawk, and in ac- 



a Du Cange, t. Kon decern. 

b MS. Cott. Nero, A. xiv. p. 10, a. 

c Hertfordshire, p. 423. 

d Atlion. p. 154, col. 2. note a. 

e Brittons Beaut, of Wilts, iii. 154. 

f Church Hist. B. vi. p. 298. 

g MS. Cott. Nero, A. in. p. 2. b. SeeAnc/iorets. 

b Smythe's Berkeley MS, 216, 227. 



counts as clever as a merchant. 1 The 
sage reformer Erasmus saw no impro- 
priety in publishing an obscene word, 
and says, in defence of it, that though 
he has put it into the mouth of a pros- 
titute, it was in general use, even among 
chaste Matrons. k This passage ex- 
plains the indelicacy of the Nun, Juli- 
ana Barnes ; and it was much owing 
to the vile education-books then in 
use, which recommended only prayer, 
fasting, submission to the Church, assi- 
duity in religious offices, mortification 
and solitude, as precepts of conduct. 
The Chastisement des Dames gives 
very detailed advice how women ought 
to walk, salute, talk, behave themselves 
at church, at table, in love tete-a-tetes ; 
and ends with a long disquisition upon 
love. La Tour, a French gentleman, 
| who in 1371 wrote the first treatise 
upon Domestic Education, professes 
to teach by Historiettes, in which he 
uses obscene stories, and even words. 
To induce his dauohters to sav their 
prayers in a morning, he tells them a 
1 tale of two daughters of an Emperor, 
i of whom one neglected this duty, the 
■ other never. Both were entangled 
I in love, and had each made an assig- 
| nation with their lovers on a certain 
! morning. The youngest, who said 
I her prayers as usual, was disappointed 
I in meeting her lover, who was compel- 
! led to fly by fancying that he saw 
I armed guards, compelling him to re- 
treat. The other, who did not say 
her prayers, fell a victim to seduction. 
The sad effect upon morals, which for 
many ages was produced by these tales, 
so common in Monasteries, is well 
pourtrayed by the following story in 
this very book : "Deux individus ayant 
insulte a la religion en couchiant (c'est 
son expression) sur un autel avec des 
femmes, ils en sont punis d'une facon 
bien extraordinaire, et restent dans cet 
etat tout un jour, jusqu'a ce qu'enfin 
Ton vient en procession prier Dieu 
pour eux et obtenir leur delivrance/' 1 
Whoever has heard of the ceremony 

1 Decameron, Day ii. Nov. ix. 

k De Colloq. TJtilit. inter Colloq. p. 650, 

1 Notices, v, 159—16(3. 



186 



NOVICES. 



called Le Congres, only abolished in 
1677} through the satire of Boileau, 
will not be surprised even at this shock- 
ing profanation.* 

Though abstinence from blows to- 
wards females be a test of refinement, 
because it shows elevation of senti- 
ment, the basis of that quality, it was 
not then deemed reproachable for a 
Saint to have a girl of an age of pu- 
berty flogged naked. b The famous 
Heloisa was to be lashed, though 22 
years old. c 

It appears, from Chaucer's Miller's 
Wife, that Education in a Nunnery was 
presumed to confer a right to take the 
title of madam. 

At a certain period d the most able 
of the Novices were sent to the Uni- 
versities. 6 The constitutions respect- 
ing them at these places were these : a 
doctoral chair in the College : not to 
study but under a tutor of the same 
religion and science, if there was such 
a one : a Prior of the Students to be 
elected, for which vast interest was 
made, and great tumults, and who 
were very negligent in their duty : 
Monks not to study with Seculars : to 
have divine service in the house: 
Chambers vacant for more than half a 
year to be immediately filled, though 
with an obligation, that any occupier 
was to give way to another sent from 
the house that built or repaired such 
Chamber : disputations to be held, and 
preaching both in Latin and English, 
at least four times a year : Convents 
negligent in sending Students : old 
men not to be sent, at least for learn- 
ing philosophy, for Priors used to be 
sent: not to plead before Secular judges, 

a Hymen, or the Marriage Ceremonies of all 
Nations, p. 29. b X Script. 2483. 

c Hawkins's Musick, ii. 23, 124, 125. 

11 "At eighteen years of age at least/' in Gutch's 
Oxford, 388. 

e There was great negligence in this respect. 
The Abbot of Malmesbury withdrew a scholar from 
Oxford for two years ; the Abbot of Abbotesbury 
for seven. See Wilk. Concil. iii. 425, where other 
instances. No mendicant Frier was to receive the 
degree of Master in Divinity, without the approba- 
tion of the Provincial Chapter and competency ; 
for many unfit persons obtained it by money. 
Parliamentary Rolls, 20 Ric. II, 



but to settle their disputes by means 
of the Prior and Seniors : vast interest 
made to be sent. The proportion of 
Students to be sent was from one to 
more in houses of twenty Monks, 
according to the circumstances of such 
house ; though Convents of less than 
twenty conceived that they were not 
obliged to send any. f The ablest to 
be sent, and young persons :S disputa- 
tions in philosophy and theology at 
least once a week : a philosophical 
reader to be appointed : Monks to host 
together not less than ten : to be under 
the subjection : and with respect to 
the confession and the Eucharist, of 
one of their own body : not to be gra- 
duated but under a Doctor of the Or- 
der. It seems that there was much 
sleeping out and frequenting taverns 
by the Students, 11 as well as disobe- 
dience. 1 The manner of living at this 
period in the Universities, is curious. 
Students rose daily between four and 
five in the morning, and from five to 
six attended the Chapel ; from six to 
ten used private study, or attended the 
common lectures. At ten they went 
to dinner upon a penny piece of beef 
among four, with pottage, made of the 
broth of the same beef, and salt and 
oatmeal. After this slender dinner, 

f Item, " Whereas the said Monastery (of Hyde) 
is charged by the king's highness, in his various 
visitations, to find three scolers, students at one of 
the Universities in England ; it shall be lefull for 
the said Abbot, during his lieff, to appoint and gyve 
exhibicion to some scoler and student to be ac- 
compted in the same nombre, being an Englishman, 
or borne within some of the king's dominions, 
whiche shall applye his study and learning in the 
partes beyond the sea, within any Universitie there." 
MS. Cott, Cleop. E. iv. p. 49. 

s Thomas Leigh (one of Henry's visitors), in his 
letter from Wilton, desires Cromwell to consider 
whom he will send to Oxford or Cambridge ; for, 
he says, that opposite results may occur, either all 
virtue and goodness, " or the fountain of all vice 
and mischief." Id. 

h Cap. Gen. Northampt. a 1444. c. 13. Reyn. 
Append. 177, 198, 9, 200, 1, 2. 

' Vestris epistolis nuper nobis transmissis acce- 
pimus, quod non absque cordis lDeticia contemplati 
sumus, quod de emolliendo eradicandoque ipsum 
inobedientise tribulum, qui nuper elationis frondi- 
bus succreverat in vinea vestra vos patres-familias 
cooperatores ibi venistis inveniendos [inventuros] , 
aut quid simile. MS. Bodl. 2508, p. 39. D& 
presidente ad studentes Monachos Oxon. 



NOVICES. 



187 



they were either teaching or learning 
till five in the evening, when they went 
to supper, which was not much better 
than their dinner; immediately after 
which they betook themselves to rea- 
soning upon problems, or some other 
study, till nine or ten, when being 
allowed no fire, they walked or ran 
about half an hour to get their feet warm 
before they went to bed. a The poor 
Scholars, at least, were obliged to scrape 
the trenchers clean for dinner. b A 
General Chapter of the Benedictine 
Order, held at Reading (a° 1279), the 
statutes of which were afterwards miti- 
gated, ordered that every house of 
religion should give two-pence out of 
every mark they received in spirituals 
and temporals to the reparation and 
support of the mansion of the Bene- 
dictine Students at Oxford, whence it 
grew into a custom, that, at every 
Provincial Chapter, a collection was 
made for this purpose. Accordingly 
we find instances of such collection/ 
and of a Student being sent with a 
full purse of 60s. sterlings Still their 
pensions were ill paid, f for the Monks 
grudged paying money for them/ and 
they used to take their degrees with 
such parade, h and consequently ex- 
pence, 1 that they were very often cal- 
led home in order to stop their proceed- 
ings in graduation^ To moderate the 
feasts, games, and excessive banquets 
given by scholars on taking degrees, 
it was ordered at Toulouse in 1324, 
that the Graduate should be attended 
by only two trumpets and a drum ; and 
in 1329, dances, banquets, comedians, 
&c. were prohibited. l In the Grand 
Compounder, traces of this practice still 
remain. The feast at taking degrees, 

R Hawkins's Music, ii. 348. 

b Douce on Shakspeare, i. 17-18. 

c W. Thome, col. 930. 

d Nichols's Manners and Expences, p. 286. Of 
contributions fraudulently withheld ; see Wilk. 
Concil. iii. 464. 

e Casley's Catalogue of MSS. in the King's 
Library, p. 131. 

f Reyn. ut sup. s Athon. 143. 

h War ton's Hist, of English Poetry, i. p. 290. 

1 Const. B. 12. utsup. 

k C. G. North, ut sup. c. xiii. 

1 Maillot, Costumes, iii. 128. 



for pure ostentation, is classed with that 
of the installation of Bishops. 111 Doc- 
tors and Graduates had precedence to 
others, after Priors and Sub-priors in 
Cathedrals. 11 

Nuns. The chief ceremony was 
the Consecration of a Nun. In the 
year 446, Pope Leo ordered that a 
Nun should receive the veil, consecra- 
ted by a Bishop, only when she was a 
virgin. A widow could not be conse- 
crated, because the continence of a 
virgin might be complete, that of a 
widow was only semiplena. P Accord- 
ing to Du Cange, the ceremony takes 
date with the age of Charlemagne. It 
differed from profession ; that applied 
to any woman, whether virgin or not, 
could be done by an Abbot or visitor of 
the House, after the year of probation, 
and change of the habit ; but consecra- 
tion could only be made by the Bishop. 
Nuns were usually professed at the age 
of sixteen, but they could not be con- 
secrated till twenty-five ; and this veil 
could only be given on festivals and 
Sundays. A particular mantle, called 
Allivis, was placed by the Bishop over 
the Nun during the ceremony .^ r This 



m Angl. Sacr. i. 377. 

n C. G. North, ut sup. c. x. and xiii. 

Mar. Scotus sub anno. 

p Lyndw. 206. Annulum. Ed. Oxf. 

i Du Cange, 1 110. ii. 981. v. Allivis. Benedictio 
Virginum devotarum, Consecratio. Inq. p. mort. 
Elean. Duciss. Glouc. 1 Hen. IV. Glouc. Lyndw. 
202. 

r Consecratio virginis quse in diebus solennibus 
facienda est ; vid. aut in Epiphania, aut in festis 
S. Marise, aut apostolorum , aut Dominicis diebus, 
Virgo Deo dicanda post introitum missse et collec- 
tam priusquam legatur epistola, veniat ante altare 
induta albis vestibus, habitum religionis in dextra 
nianu tenens, et cereum extinctum in sinistra ; et 
ponatur vestirnentum ad pedes episcopi ante altare, 
et cereum in manu retineat. Benedicat ergo epis- 
copus vestirnentum his subscriptis benedictionibus. 
Tunc det ei episcopus virginitatis vestirnentum, et 
tantum velamen apud se faciat retineri dicens : 
" Accipe puella pallium, quodpraeferas sine macula," 
&c. Tunc ipsa virgo vadat ad sacrarium, etindicat 
se ipso vestimento benedicto, accipiensque unum 
cereum in manus suas ardentem veniat in chorum 
cantans,'"Amo Christum incujusthalamumintroivi ." 
Tunc legatur epistola, et evangelium, et post evan- 
gelium et Credo in unum, dicat episcopus: "Venite, 
venite, venite, filiee, audite me, timorem Domini 
docebo vos." Tunc veniat virgo ante altare cantans, 
et nunc sequimur in toto corde ; quo finito pros- 
ternat se episcopus super tapetum ante altare, et 



188 



NOVICES. 



was to be made on solemn days,, namely , 
either in the Epiphany, or on the festi- 
vals of St. Mary, or of the A/postles, 
or Sundays. a The Virgin to be con- 
secrated, after the beginning of the 
Mass and Collect, before the Epistle 
was read, came before the altar, robed 
in white, carrying the religious habit 
in her right hand, and an extinguished 
taper in her left, which habit she laid 
before the altar, at the Bishop's feet, 
and held the taper in her hand. The 
Bishop then consecrated the habit, 
and gave it her (the veil excepted), say- 
ing, " Take, girl, the robe, which you 
shall wear in innocence ;" upon which 
she went to the Revestry, put it on, 
and returned with a lighted taper in 
her hand, singing, u I love Christ, into 
whose bed I have entered " h Then, 
after the Epistle, Gospel, and Creed, 
the Bishop said, " Come, come, come, 



et virgo retro episcopum, et cantetui- interim letania 
a duobus clericis festive choro respondents Epis- 
copus vero et ministri altaris cantent interim vii 
psalm. Post letaniam, surgat episcopus, etincipiat 
festive, " Veni Creator spiritus." Post hymnum, 
surgat virgo, et veniat ante altare ; tunc imponat 
episcopus velamen super caput virginis inclinatse. 
Tunc virgo incipiat hanc, " Induit me Dominus," 
vel quamlibet antiphonam quse conveniat de historia 
S. Agnetis aut S. Agatha?. Hie episcopus faciat 
bannum, ne quis pra;sumat illud sanctum propo- 
situm violare ; postea faciat virgo hanc professionem, 
si tempus fuerit. Deinde signum crucis faciat in 
fine professions, et ponat super altare. His expletis, 
abbatissa ipsam petitionem accipiat ah altari, et 
servandam tradat. Tunc professa stet ante altare, 
et tertio hunc versum dicat, " Suscipe me, Domine, 
secundum eloquium tuum,'' &c. qui versus tertio 
repetatur ab omnibus, et in fine, " Gloria Patri," 
&c. et postea, " Kyrie, et Pater Noster." Interim 
professa prosternat se coram altare, quo facto 
dicat episcopus, et ne nos induce, &c. Et subse- 
quentes psalmos incohet ; Domine, quis habitabit ; 
Dominus regit me, et Salvum me fac Domine, quem 
intraverunt, quibus ad omnibus decantatis statim 
subjungat heec capitula, " Salvam fac ancillam 
tuam,'' &c. Post hsec tradat alicui puella cereum 
ad tenendum, et offerat panem et vinum episcopo, 
iterumque accipiat cereum, et stet inclinata, usque 
communicet, et missa finiatur ordine suo. Item 
episcopalis benedictio super earn. Post missam 
offerat virgo cereum super altare, et discendat cum 
pace. MS. Cott. Tiber. B. vin. f. 120, seq. 

a Wearing veils originated with the Pontiff Soter 
in the year 178 ; and Gelasius, who was Pope in the 
fifth century, decreed that they should not be veiled, 
except in cases of extreme sickness, but on the 
Epiphany, Paschal Albs, or the Nativities of the 
Apostles. Johnson's Canons of the Eastern 
Church, p. 320. 

J See the Chapter of Continent ev. 



daughters, I will teach you the fear of 
the Lord ; ,} upon which the Nun came 
before the altar, singing, " And now 
we follow with our whole hearts" 
When this was finished, the Bishop 
prostrated himself upon the carpet 
before the altar, and the Nun behind 
him ; and in the mean while the Litany 
was sung by two Clerks, the Choir 
making the responses ; but the Bishop 
and Ministers of the altar sang in the 
mean time the seven psalms. After 
the Litany, the Bishop rose, and began 
the Veni Creator; after which the Nun 
rose, and came before the altar, when 
the Bishop put the veil upon her head, 
as she stooped. After which, she 
began Induit me Dominus, or some 
suitable antiphonar from the histories 
of Agnes or Agatha. This was follow- 
ed by a curse from the Bishop, against 
all those who presumed to disturb her 
holy purpose. The Nun then made 
her profession, if she had time, put 
the signature of the cross to the end 
of it, and laid it upon the altar, from 
! whence the Abbess took it, to be laid 
I by. Then the Nun stood before the 
i altar, and said this verse three times, 
" Keceive me, O Lord I" which was 
each time repeated by all, and con- 
cluded with the Doxology, Kyrie elee- 
son, and Lord's Prayer. In the mean 
time the Nun lay before the altar, and 
certain psalms were sung; after which 
she gave the taper to some one to hold, 
and offered bread and wine to the 
Bishop ; which over, she again took the 
taper, and stood inclined till she had 
communicated, and the Mass and Epis- 
copal benediction was concluded. After 
the Mass, she offered the taper upon 
the altar, and descended in peace. The 
second was the Order c how a Nun tuas 



c Ordo qualiter virgo faciat professionem, si ante 
fuerit benedicta sine professione. Quocunque festo 
voluerit cantabit episcopus missam, et post evan- 
gelium incipiatur psalmus, " Miserere mei, Deus," 
cum " Gloria Patri." Quo decantato ab omnibus 
1 acceclat virgo ante altare, et legat professionem 
suam, " Ero soror," sicut superius prsenotatum est. 
Tunc dicat episcopus (M.) ; tunc incipiat episcopus 
excelsa voce hymnum. Hie se erigat virgo acce- 
datque ad episcopum, et episcopus ponet velamen 
super oculos ejus ; quo facto, iterum se prosternat 
incipiatque preesuj hunc ps.almum [then, aa anti* 



NOVICES. 



189 



to make profession, if she had been bles- 
sed before without profession. Upon 
whatever festival he chose, the Bishop 
sung Mass, and after the Gospel the 
51st Psalm, and Gloria Patri was sung 
by all. The Nun then advanced before 
the altar, and read her profession, 
which was succeeded by a religious ser- 
vice by the Bishop. She then rose, 
and advanced to that prelate, who put 
the veil over her eyes ; after which she 
prostrated herself again, and a psalm 
and antiphonar was sung by the Bishop. 
The third was the form d how a Nun 



phonar] ab episcopo. MS. Cott. ut supra, 135, 
seq. Without profession alludes to its omission 
for want of time. 

d MS. Harl. 561. f. 107. 114. b. Forma quali- 
ter sanctimonialis non virgo, vel alia facere debet 
professionem suam. Quocunque festo solempni 
episcopus voluerit, induat se sacris vestibus, vid. 
sandaliis, superpellicio, sudario, amissio, interim 
dum se induit percantentur a. clericis ad hoc assig- 
natis preces consueti, &c. [then some religious 
services.] Et tunc episcopus ponat se in phildis- 
torio honeste prseparato coram medio altaris facie 
conversa ad occidentem. Et interim mulier pro- 
fessura accedat prseparata per ostium chori inferius, 
cum duabus vel tribus sororibus ipsam comitantibus, 
portans habitum, quae religio sua requirit, super 
brachium sinistrum, in quo infigatur velamen capitis 
cum annulo, et in dextera manu scedulam habeat 
scriptam suae professionis pleno visu continue in earn 
intendendo. Deinde dum procedit usque altare 
episcopus cum ministris suis mediocri voce dicat 
clero vel choro alternatim constrepente, " Miserere 
mei, Deus,'' &c. cum " Gloria Patri," et " Sicut 
erat." Positis autem habitu, velamine, et annulo 
ad pedes episcopi, et completo psalmo, mulier pro- 
fessura stans super medium gradum altaris legat 
professionem suam hoc modo : "Ego soror promitto 
stabilitatem meam, etconversionemmorummeorum, 
et obedientiam coram Deo omnibusque Sanctis ejus, 
secundum regulam Sancti Benedicti, in loco qui 
est consecratus in honore S. N. et in prsesentia 
domini episc. N. vel abbatissse N." Quel lecta 
genufiectendo faciat crucem cum penna in fine 
professionis super genua episcopi, et osculata manu 
ejus, surgat et prosternat se super tapetum vel 
terram ante inferiorem gradum altaris, super quam 
sic prostratem episcopus stando has sequentes dicat, 
&c. Deinde erigatur mulier, et remotis velamine 
et annulo, benedicat episcopus habitumsic dicendo; 
deinde asperso habitu aqua bened. induat episcopus 
professuram cum ea sic dicendo ; postea convertat 
se episcopus, cum ministris genufiectendo ad altare, 
professura retro episcopum prostrata incipiat alta 
voce. Veni Creator, &c. ut supra in benedictione 
abbissse ; dicto hoc, surgat episcopus et conversus 
ad mulierem dicat . . . hie erigat se a terra sancti- 
monialis episcopo interim velamen ejusbenedicente 
sic... tunc imponat unus sacerdos et non episcopus 
velamen capiti mulieris, episcopo interim dicente ; 
quo dicto, benedicat episcopus amissium hoc modo ; 
tunc tradat ei episcopus annulum sic dicendo ; 
deinde trahit episcopus velamen super oculos ejus 



j not a Virgin, or other, was to make her 
profession. Upon whatever festival 
he chose, the Bishop robed himself in 
pontificals, and while he was doing 
this, the usual prayers were said by 
Clerks appointed for this. The Bishop 
then placed himself in a chair before 
the middle of the altar, with his face 
towards the west. The Nun in the 
mean while advanced through the lower 
gate of the Choir, with two or three 
sisters accompanying, carrying the 
habit on her left arm, in which was 
fixed the veil with the ring, and in her 
right the schedule of profession, upon 
which she kept her eyes fixed. While 
she was advancing, the Bishop, Minis- 
ters, and Choir, in a low voice, sung a 
certain service. When this psalm was 
over, and the habit, veil, and ring laid 
at the Bishop^s feet, the Nun, stand- 
ing upon the middle step of the altar, 
read her profession in this form : " I 
sister [A] promise stedfastness, and 
the conversion of my manners, and 
obedience before God and all his saints, 
according to the Rule of St. Benedict, 
in the place which is consecrated to 
the honour of S. N. and in the presence 
of our lord Bishop N. or Abbess NV' 
After this, she knelt and made a cross 
with a pen in the end of the profession 
upon the knees of the Bishop, and 
having kissed his hand, rose and pros- 
trated herself upon the carpet or ground 

incipiendo antiphonam ; deinde dicat episcopus 
stando super istam prostratam sequentem orationem 
cum prsefacione ; si sit de ordine »S. S. Augustini 
vel Francisci sic. Deinde legatur evangelium 
dictoque officio ac interim dum a choro cantatur 
professa procedendo offerat genibus fiexis ad manum 
episcopi, manu ejus ab eadem prius osculata. 
Postea offerant alii qui volunt. Professa continue 
super tapetum vel terram se prosternente, usque 
post receptionem corporis et sanguinis Christi, ab 
episcopo plene factam. Et tunc ante resuperacio- 
nem (sic) professa erigatur, episcopus veniens ab 
altari cum corpore Christi patena, imposito com- 
municet earn super gradum altaris superioris devote 
genuflectentem sic dicendo ; tunc osculata, manu 
episcopi surgendo ducatur in chorum osculetque 
sorores tres universas. Ac nichil omnino illorum 
vestimentorum, quae inbenedictione habuit, exuendo 
sive mutando, subtalaribus pedum tantum modo 
exceptis ; sed die nocteque psalmis, hymnis, et 
canticis spiritualibus, magis devocione cordis quam 
modulacione vocis, domino jam Christo cui se 
devovit jugiter servire intendat, ultimo etiam stabit 
in loco usque in tcrcium diem. 



190 



NOVICES. 



before the lower step of the altar, over 
whom the Bishop standing then said 
certain prayers. She was then raised, 
and the veil and ring being set aside, 
the Bishop consecrated the habit, and, 
after it had been sprinkled with holy 
water, put it upon her, with certain 
prayers. He then turned with his 
attendants to the altar, kneeling, and 
the Nun prostrate behind him, begin- 
ning with a loud voice, Veni Creator ; 
after this he rose, and turning to her, 
said certain prayers. She then rose, 
and the veil was consecrated, and one 
of the Priests, not the Bishop, put it 
upon her head, while the Bishop said 
certain prayers. The amess a was then 
consecrated, the ringb given to her, c 
and the veil drawn over her eyes, 
which was followed by certain prayers 
over her as she lay prostrate. Then 
the Gospel was read, and while the 
service was singing by the Choir, she 
kissed the Bishop's hand, and made 
her offering kneeling, as afterwards 
did those who chose it. She then 
continued prostrate till the Commu- 
nion was over, when she arose, and 
the Bishop brought her the patin to 
communicate, as she knelt upon the 
step of the high altar. After this, 
she kissed the Bishop's hand, was led 
into the Choir, and kissed all the three 

a "Worn on the head : it signified the rag of linen 
wherewith the Jews blinded Christ in mockery, 
when they smote and buffeted him. Gutch's Col- 
lectanea Curiosa, ii. 179. 

b A small ring of gold with a sapphire at Ames- 
bury. Lib. Cotid. contrar. Garder. 28 Ed. I. p. 
348. The constitutions complained of their wear- 
ing several. 

c Though there is a Canon in Lyndwood (p. 
206), that only consecrated Nuns should wear 
rings, yet widows made the vow of chastity, by a 
ring only, without habit or veil. See an instance 
in Speed, 616. 



sisters. She then continued in silence 
for three days, never changed any part 
of her clothes, except her shoes, but 
day and night devoted to psalms and 
hymns, and spiritual songs, studied 
how she should serve God constantly, 
and took the last rank, till the third day. 
The duties of the female Novitiates 
were similar to those of the male. d 
When taken sick, the Infirmaress was 
to follow them, and they were to 
have no communication with their 
companions, unless a curtain or wall 
intervened. 6 



d Monast. ii. 770. e Id. ubi sup. 

N. B. There is an injunction in MS. Ashm. 
Mus. 1519. f. 37, a. that a Canon should not be 
received from the profession of another house. 
(Nee ullum canonicum ex professione alterius 
domus ordinis nostri recipiat.) They were refused 
admission without dimissory letters (M. Paris, 
1015,) which assigned asareason, that they could no 
longer stay, with quiet of their souls, or a sound 
conscience or observation of the Rule. " Licentia 
pro monacho eundi ab una domo in aliam. Abbas 
sive prior et conventus A. B. salutem. Cumsicut 
exhibita nobis pro parte tua, &c. peticio, &c. 
(MS. Harl. 670, fol. 100, a.) continebat quod in 
dicto monasterio per causas certas et literas nobis 
ministratas, non possis cum tuae quiete anima? et 
sana. conscientia vel amplius remanere, neque dicti 
ordinis regulam observare in eadem, transeundi ad 
aliud monasterium ejusdem ordinis indulgentiam 
nobis humiliter sixpplicavisti, &c." (MS. Harl. 
2179, f. 78, a.) But he might leave his Order, 
without leave of the Superior, if that he proposed 
to go into was more austere. (Dev. Vie Monast. i. 
243.) If it was to a more remiss one, the papal 
licence was necessary ; unless there was a cause, 
and the Monk was young or old, and the cause 
required celerity, and then the Bishop's was suffi- 
cient. Lyndw. 210. But; if he went into the 
same Order, dimissory letters were taken. Monast. 
i. p, 41. They might change their Order when the 
irregularity and bad example of the religious endan- 
gered their salvation. Dev. Vie Monast. ii. 25. 
In 1247 the Friars Preachers obtained a privilege, 
that no one should leave their Order, because many 
who had entered into it were disappointed. M. 
Par. 637. The Abbot's licence was necessary even 
to be elected Abbot of another house. Id. 1031. 



LAY-BROTHERS, 



191 



CHAPTER XXX, 



LAY-BROTHERS 



A Lay-brother made his petition 
prostrate in the Chapter, in this form : 
" I seek charitably the habit of a bro- 
ther, for the salvation of my soul." 
Upon his being raised, the Abbot or 
Prior said that it was necessary he 
should swear to observe chastity, to 
be faithful to the Church, and obedi- 
ent to his Superiors, as well as to re- 
nounce property and his own will. 
Afterwards a brother was deputed to 
him to teach him his Pater Noster, 
Ave Mary, Creed, and other religious 
offices, to serve at the Masses, and 
graces at dinner, as well as to say the 
hours, in a form peculiar to themselves. a 
These were professed Lay-brothers ; 
but there were also Oblati, persons 
who devoted themselves to servitude 
by giving four-pence, and sometimes 
binding their necks in a bell-rope ;b 
and Fratres ad succurendum, assistant 
brothers, who wore only a short scapula- 
ry, while the prof essed Lay-brother had 
the habit of the Order. Some persons 
gave themselves, and all or part of their 
property, to the house, and professed 
obedience to the Abbot, and received 
food and clothing. There were infe- 
riors to these, who, with their families, 
became vassals to the Church. d Of 
this kind of persons, or others, they 
had, it seems, a long train : for the Ab- 
bot of Fever sham, writing to Crom- 



a Secularis habitum fratrum suscepturus faciat 
peticionem in capitulo prostratus in hunc modum, 
" Ego peto caritative habitum fratris pro anima 
raea salvanda." Quo erecto, dicat abbas, seu prior, 
quod oportet eurn supra textum vovere castitatem, 
et jurare ndelitatem ecclesie, et obedientiarn suis 
superioribus abrenuntiando etiam proprietati et 
propria voluntati. Deinde deputetur ei ahquis pater 
qui doceat eurn Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Credo, 
Confiteor, Psalmos de Profundis, et Miserere. Et 
ad serviendum ad missas et gracias ad prandium. 
Item doceatur dicere boras hoc modo. Ad quam- 
libet horam dicat (prayers). MS. Bodl, Bar- 
low, T. 

b Du Cange, in voce. 

c Bibliotheca Preemonstratensis, i. p. 24. 

d Du Cange, v. Oblati, ubi plura. See also v. 
Bonati. 



well, says, "I have sent to vow a 
paper of suche proportyon of vyttell 
and other, as the Lay-brothers hyre 
telly th me of necessite must be provyd- 
yde for them ; now they not regarding 
this derthe, would have and hathe that 
same fare contynuall that then was 
usid, and wold have like plenty of brede 
and ale and rlshe given to straungers 
in the butterye, or at the butterye doore, 
and as large lyveries of bredde and ale 
to all ther servaunts, and to vagabunds 
at the gate, as was than usid." e 

The Gilbertine Rule goes minutely 
into their duties. f These were, ex- 
communication (if impenitent) upon 
transgression; to wash their own cloaths, 
if there were not Fullers ; or else to 
have it done by some poor person 
found by the Porter, and to be washed 
only by the foot ; Chapter to be held 
at the same time, and in a similar form 
to that of the Canons ; Novices to be 
professed ; brothers coming to conver- 
sion not to be admitted under twenty- 
four years of age;? at Mattins and 
daily hours to use certain prayers; from 
the ides of September, till Maundy 
Thursday, on private days, and such 
feasts as they worked on, a special bell 
to be rung to wake them ; after Vigils 
and Lauds to keep silence till Prime, 
which over, to go to their work ; to say 
the other hours, on the places where 
they worked. From Easter to Sep- 
tember, on working days, to sleep till 
Lauds, because they had no meridian 
sleeps from the Rule, but of favour, 



e MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. p. 35, a. 

f Monast. ii. 732, seq. In the Bodleian Cata- 
logue of the contents of MS. Ashm. 1285, there is 
mention made of "Institutio Laicorum Fratrum." 
The MS. contains no such thing, according to my 
research. 

s Thus the Franciscans enacted, " that no one 
should be received for a Lay-brother under twenty- 
four years of age, nor beyond forty-three, unless 
he was a person very remarkable and famous." 
(Et nullus recipiatur pro laico omnino intra xxiiii 
ann. nee ultra xliii, nisi erit persona multum nota- 
bilis et insignis.j MS. Bodl. 1882. p. 45. 



192 



LAY-BROTHERS. 



namely, those who were in the house 
from Easter to hay harvest ; those in 
the Granges, from the feast of Holy 
Cross till the same term. On feasts 
that they did not work on, to rise to 
Mattins ; and from September to Eas- 
ter, to both Vespers : on other days to 
attend to their work, as long as it was 
light; when the work was over, to 
strike the table and sing Complin. 
Those in the Granges from the calends 
of November till the Chayring of St. 
Peter ; a to watch till the fourth part of 
the night ; b and from the chairing of 
St. Peter till Easter, and from the ides 
of September till the calends of No- 
vember, to rise so as to end Vigils and 
Lauds before day-break; after this, 
work : from Easter to the above ides, 
to rise with day-break ; from the oc- 
taves of Pentecost to Christmas, and 
of Epiphany to Easter, every Friday, 
disciplines ; to come to the communion 
eight times in the year, Novices three ; 
silence in all the offices, except on in- 
dispensable occasions ; no entrance 
into the offices without leave; work- 
men of the house, as shoemakers, 
tailors, weavers, and other artificers, 
not to speak but standing, and in a 
place out of their shops of necessary 
matters. A place within the shops to 
be only granted to smiths (fabris). 
The evening chapter to be held every 
week on Thursday, after Vespers in 
winter, and after supper in summer, 
except hay-harvest and August ; one 
or two Canons to assist, and delin- 
quents be beaten in the next Chapter; 
no signs to be made, or gossippings, 
unless for fire, theft, or things of that 
kind. Necessity excused from this of- 
fice the brothers engaged with the 
guests, grangiaries, neatherds, and 
grooms : on feast days on which they 
worked, allowed to be present at the 
Complin of the Nuns ; those in the 
Granges to keep silence in the Dor- 
mitory, Refectory, and Calefactory in 

a The chairing of St. Peter was the 8 Cal. Mart. 
22d of February. 

b Viyilcnt circum quart am partem noctis, [per- 
haps " to wake about the fourth part of the night,'' 
i. e. to Lauds.] 



the appointed limits ; but allowed to 
converse with the Grangiary standing 
and two together ; a brother travelling 
to keep silence in all the Churches, and 
in refection ; and after Complin to con- 
form to the Rule, though not to fast, 
but as the rest in Granges ; upon com- 
ing to a house or grange of the same 
Order to do in all things like the others ; 
allowed to converse about necessaries 
with the groom, as of shoeing horses, 
and when he gave them hay, and in 
matters of that nature, but standing; 
if a brother went out with leave, he 
was to do as ordered; no gossipping, 
nor carrying tales to and fro ; upon en- 
tering an office, to seek what was want- 
ed by a sign ; none to refuse going in 
a cart in order that they might ride ; 
shepherds and cow-keepers to return 
the salutation of a traveller, or inform 
him of his road, if he asked the ques- 
tion ; but if he asked any further, to 
inform him they were not allowed to 
speak ; in their Refectory to dine with 
their Prior or the Grangiary, with 
similar religious ceremonies as the 
Canons ; not to dine with their clothes 
ofT ; to lose their beer, if they missed 
the verse three times, and dine last, 
and make prostrations, if they spilt 
their drink or soup, and ask pardon 
in the Chapter, if they cut their fin- 
gers ; in the Granges after dinner to go 
to the Oratory ; to have no bells, but 
wooden balls, c to assemble them ; not 
to fast but on the principal feasts, and 
in Advent, and Fridays in the win- 
ter, when they had every one of them 
a certain allowance of bread ; pittances 
to the sick persons returning from 
journeys, and those who had been 
bled. 

The Grangiary or Bailiff was to 
manage the farms ; to converse with 
the brothers of labour and walking, if 
needful ; not to enter the Court of the 
Nuns ; not to go any where without 
orders from the Prior ; to have a com- 
panion to watch him in the absence of 
the Prior or Cellarer ; not to take any 
thing to himself out of things bought 

e Lignea Balla ; not in Du Cange. 



LAY-BROTHERS. 



193 



or sold ; the Prior or Cellarer to punish 
those who did not obey him. 

A Canon to assist the Lay-brothers 
in buying and selling : the Emptor to 
be assisted alternately by one of three 
brethren who was to be a spy upon 
him, if possible a lettered person ; si- 
lence under certain modifications ; al- 
lowed to talk with their footboy on 
necessary occasions ; not to buy or sell 
without leave of the Prior, Cellarer. 
Grangiary, and Proctor ; give an ac- 
count upon their return ; punctually 
to restore every thing borrowed ; who- 
ever went to fairs to buy the things 
(notified in writing) for the use of the 
house ; which persons to consist of 
one Lay-brother, two lettered persons, 
and as many more as the Prior thought 
fit ; their purchases (for the Nuns at 
least) to be exhibited to the Prior, Cel- 
larer, and others ; not to buy super- 
fluous fish for themselves to eat, or 
delicacies, or drink wine unless well 
watered ; to be content with two messes 
of pottage ; not to eat but in places 
provided by the officers, and then to- 
gether ; no silk to be bought for worldly 
vanities ; no wool to be mixed with 
that of others ; no one to speak offen- 
sively of another in his presence ; the 
artificers to have chests to put their 
tools in, locked with two keys, one in 
the hands of the Prior ; no artificer, a 
guest, to become a brother without 
consent of the principal Prior ; no dwell- 
ing out of the gates of the house, un- 
less for animals ; bricklayers, carpen- 
ters, and those who worked aloft, 
to wear breeches ; after autumn, a bro- 
ther and threshers to be sent to the 
Granges, to thresh as much corn as 
would serve the Convent for a year; 
also another to have the care of the 
cheese and butter; geese, hens, bees, 
honey, and eggs, under the care of the 
hospitalis /rater yrangice* and assist- 
ants. Of these the best to be sent 
to the Abbey, when wanted, by the 
care of certain of these Lay-brothers ; 
the hospitalis fratei* to be continually 

* Housekeeper. Mansionarius. Du Cange. 



at home, if possible, and keep the keys 
of the Grange, in preference ; if not, 
a faithful brother in his stead : mea- 
sures of allowances for persons coming 
to the granges, and horses, &c. to be 
established, and to be uniform every 
where ; a check to be kept by an itine- 
rant brother of the quantities of corn 
threshed out; the tithes to be regu- 
larly separated, and no strangers corn 
put in their custody without leave ; wo- 
men not to milk in houses, but in 
fields ; not to enter the Granges with- 
out leave, and, as far as possible, to be 
neither young nor pretty; the Lay- 
brothers not to go near them; to be 
assisted by boys ; their refection to be 
made in a house out of the gate, and 
the presiding Lay-brother to oversee 
them silently through a hole, and to 
have a faithful mercenary to attend 
upon them, and such a person to over- 
see them in their work ; not to ride or 
overload their horses, or overwork 
themselves ; to come to the bake-house 
at the proper season, and the baker to 
strike the table at the time of mass ; 
punishments to be established for theft 
and other crimes. 

Lay-brothers retained their beards, 
while the Monks were shaved, and 
were therefore called Bearded Bro- 
thers ; b they were also called Viatores, 
from frequently travelling on the Con- 
vent business. 

Lay-sisters. Not to be admitted to 
the habit before twenty years old ; not 
to wait for the nuns to begin their 
work, which consisted of washing, cu- 
linary employments, attendance, and 
other menial offices ; d not to enter the 
Church but at the times appointed for 
them; to hold their Chapter every 
Sunday, and twice in the week; not to 



b Du Cange, v. Barbati fratres. 

c Du Cange, in voce. 

d There is a constitution in Lyndwood (Proviuc. 
207, Ed. Oxon.) which prohibits the services, by 
Nuns, of females who worked in silk, acted as lady's 
maids, or prepared baths. These were called vo- 
luptuous and delicate servants. Others, in matters 
connected with food, necessary servants. Among 
these were not only Bakers (Pistrices), but Furna- 
rise, whose duty appertained to the oven. 



194 



LAY-SISTERS, 



weave (texere) any thing to be sent or 
sold out of the house ; when they rose 
from their beds to say the nocturnal 
synaxis before they did any work, but 
not Prime until the proper season ; to 
finish, however, what they had begun, 
if it could not be delayed ; in a work- 
ing day of twelve lessons? to rise before 
the sixth psalm; on entering the church, 
to sit upon the forms called miseri- 
cords, and say the usual prayer, though 
the Nuns had ended part of the ser- 
vice ; from All Saints to the chairing 
of St. Peter every day before Lauds 
and Prime, a season to be granted 
them for attending to devotions ; from 
Holyroodday to All Saints, Prime to be 
said at such an hour as they might 
very soon (mox) go to their work. 
When at their devotions, any one to 
be allowed to join them after they had 
said two Pater Nosters ; but if more, 
such to say it by themselves ; all to 
say Complin together except those 
engaged; after Prime and Complin to 
sprinkle themselves with holy water ; 
to communicate eight times per annum ; 
Novices three ; the latter to leave the 
chapter at the " Let us speak of the 
Order ;" and after it was ended, enter 
again, and take their veniae. In their 
refection (which was attended with 
prayers like those of the Canons), not 
to sit before their Prior ; those who 



served at the table in Lent, and others 
who were not allowed to eat with the 
Convent, to eat after Nones when they 
had said Vespers. In feasts, when the 
Nuns went to their biberes, to go to 
theirs ; to drink with leave after Ves- 
pers if the brothers or sisters professed 
on a working day; to take the sacrament 
on the Sunday following; those em- 
ployed in brewing to say the hours in 
their house ; the mistress of those em- 
ployed in offices out of doors to have 
some old woman to speak in her stead, 
when she gave orders ; the mistress to 
strike one blow before she said bene- 
dicite at the table ; a Lay-sister to at- 
tend in the infirmary to dress the vic- 
tuals, wash the linen, carry the weak, 
lead the blind, and otherwise assist the 
sick ; intimacy forbidden between them 
and the Nuns ; punishments for crimes ; 
not to receive the sacrament on the 
Sunday, if they had concealed any crime 
during the week which ought to have 
been proclaimed in Chapter. 

There were persons called Fellow 
sisters, sisters, being virgins, or wo- 
men who gave themselves and their 
goods, or at least a part, to Abbeys, in 
the same manner as the Oblati among 
the Monks. a 



Du Cange, v. Consoror. 



SERVANTS, 



195 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



SERVANTS, 



All those within the house took an 
oath of fidelity, and not to reveal the 
secrets of the house. a Instances ap- 
pear, where they had been brought 
up in the house from childhood, and 
were persons judiciously selected. 
The Abbot of Feversham says : " Yet 
have I such faithful approved Ser- 
vaunts, whome I have brought upp in 
my poure house, from their tender 
yeares. And those of suche wit and 
good discresion, joyned unto the long 
experience of the trade of suche worldly 
thing, that they are able to furnishe 
and supply those partes, I know, right 
well in all poynts." b In the time of 
William Eufus, the Servants at Eves- 
ham amounted to sixty-five ; five in 
the church ; two in the infirmary ; two 
in the cellar ; five in the kitchen \ seven 
in the bakehouse ; four brewers, four 
menders, two in the bath, two shoe- 
makers, two in the orchard, three gar- 
deners ; one at the cloister gate, two 
at the great gate ; five at the vineyard ; 
four who served the Monks when they 
went out ; four fishermen ; four in the 
Abbot's chamber, three in the Hall. c 
At the Nunnery of Yedingham, there 
were a miller and boy, shoemaker, car- 
ters, cowherds, porter, reaper, two gar- 
deners, servant of the Granges, four 
maids, maids of the infirmary, keeper 
of the geese. d Elsewhere are men- 
tioned a Servant of the parlour, two 
tailors, in an upper chamber, two Ser- 
vants in the Vestiary, who rung the 
bells ; c the barber ; f one of the fires, 



a C. Northampt. a 1444. Cap. vi. sect. De In- 
firmitorio. 

b MS. Cott. Cleop. E. IV. f. 33. a. 

c Monast. Anglic, i. 146. d Id. 498. 

c Serviens parlorii ; duos cissores in nigro sola- 
rio ex consuetudine. In vestiario duo servientes 
qui pulsant campanas (Davies has a similar item 
of Durham). MS. Harl. 1005, p. 44. 

f By Lanfranc's Decretals, Prime, Tierce, and 
Chapter, were expedited, and no Chapter held by 
the children, hut they went to their school, and 
when every thing was ready in the cloister, the 



who was constantly every fifteen days 
to clean the spittings under and near 
the forms, and strew them plentifully 
with hay;S servants of the laundry, 
who washed the table-cloths of the 
Refectory ; the Servants of certain of- 
ficers. 11 At Tewkesbury, at the Disso- 
lution, there were 144.* The Con- 
vent of St. Alban's did not return ob- 
served, to the prohibition that women k 



Abbot began a religious service. No one was 
shaved in his hood ; but, like the persons who per- 
formed the office, both the shaving and shaved were 
in their frocks. They shaved one another, but 
the Refectioners first, in winter, when the minuti 
and sick had mixtus after Chapter, that they might 
find every thing ready for them. While the psalms 
were singing, no one was to wash his head, pare 
his nails, or leave the cloister without leave : but, 
after the psalms, and a benedieite and answer, they 
might speak. Then a bason was brought, and they 
washed their heads. If the bell rung for Church, 
those went whose beards were either shaved or un- 
touched. On the shaving day the cloths were 
changed in the Refectory ; on days, when conver- 
sation in the Cloister was allowed, any one who 
thought it necessary, might be shaved with consent 
of the Abbot or Prior. C. 12. Till the year 1266, 
the Monks of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, used 
to shave one another in the Cloister, but frequent 
injuries ensuing through their awkwardness in that 
office, secular persons were hired (W. Thorne, C. 
25. sect. 3) ; and it is plain, from Davies and others 
mentioning the barber's stipend and fees, that this 
example was followed by other houses. In the 
Sempringham rule (Monast. ii. 721) the Canons 
were shaved seventeen times per annum ; but one 
of the Inquirenda of Henry's visitors was, "Whe- 
ther ye bee wyckely shaven." MS. Cott. Cleop. 
E. IV. Shaving the beard began about the year 
1200. LeVoeu de Jacob, i. 851. Lest the Eu- 
charist should be violated by it. 

% Minister focarum continue circulo quindecim 
dierum screationes subtus et prope formas mun- 
dabit, et fcenum competens copiose ibidem ma- 
gistri distributione curabit jacere, &c. MS. Cott. 
Claud. B. vi. f. 197. b. Spenser (Fairy Queen, 
B. VI. C. xii. St. 24) mentions the dirtiness of the 
Monks : and I think this passage, and one in the ar- 
ticle Refectioner, sufficiently prove it; notwith- 
standing Thomas Hearne's indignation (Lib. Nig. 
Scaccarii, ii. 456) at the charge. 

h Monast i. p. 149. 

* See Mr. Dyde's neat and pleasing History 
of that place, p. 146. 

k In ministerio reclusi nulla maneat mulier, 
neque neptis, neque aliena, nee soror, nee mater. 
[In the service of a Monk there shall be no wo- 
man, neither a niece, nor stranger, sister, or mo. 

o 2 



196 



SERVANTS. 



should notbe personally admitted in the 
service of Anchorets." a By the Nor- 
man institutes, it was enacted, that the 
Servants should sup in the Refectory, 
and in their way to the Church, while 
they passed before the chapter, go 
bowing till they had passed, and before 
the entrance of the chapter raise them- 
selves, and, turning to the east, in the 
usual manner, make an humble incli- 
nation. This salutation was to be re- 
turned by the Monks in the chapter, 
rising from their seats and bowing. b 

In Edmund de Hadenham's Annals 
of Rochester, are long details, by which 
it appears, that these Servants were I 
married men, not Lay-brothers, and 
transferred from one avocation to an- 
other, however different, upon the prin- 
ciple of promotion and favour only, 
leaving them to acquire the requisite 
qualifications successively. 



ther.] MS. Cot. Jul. A. IX. f. 12. b. (de vita 
Reclusorum.) 

a M. Paris, 1100. 

b Deer. Lanfr. 

c Angl. Sacr. i. 343, 344, 389. 



Bishop Kennet has been often cited 
for the blood-coloured liveries /worn by 
the Prior of Burcester's Servants : 
liveries being anciently general, and 
families supposed to be guided in the 
colours, by the tinctures of their armo- 
rial bearings. This, however, is rather 
an exception, than a general rule. 
Donne says, 

"Nor come a velvet Justice with a long 
Great train of blew-coats, twelve or fourteen 
strong." Sat. i. 

Blue was the colour in which the 
Gauls cloathed their slaves £ and from 
this British custom, for many ages, 
blue-coats were the liveries of servants 
and apprentices, even of younger bro- 
thers, 6 as now of the blue-coat boys, 
blue schools in the country, &c. Hence 
the proverb in Ray. f " He ? s in his 
better blew clothes ;" i. e. thinks him- 
self very fine; and strumpets doing 
penance in blue gowns .s 



d Plin. N. H. xvi. 18. 

e Douce on Shakspeare, 334, Strutt's Dresses, 
302, 315. 

* P. 66. 

* Steevens. 



MONASTIC BUILDINGS. 



19/ 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



MONASTIC BUILDINGS. 



Monastic Buildings, like Roman 
temples, a were erected by the gifts of 
great men, the alms of the people, b and 
the substraction of a part of the annual 
revenues, devoted to another purpose. 
The Abbey of Yale Royal cost the king 
32,000/. sterling, and the Abbot drew 
for the money by instalments/ 1 When 
they were impoverished and decayed 
by fire or other cause, all the Abbots 
of the order were to endeavour to re- 



a Suetonius, in August, c, 29. 

b Bishop Hooper says, " The people are made 
so blind by the falsehood of Antichristes minis- 
ters, that they will rather give a golden crowne to 
the buildinge of an abbeie, foundation of a chan- 
trie, or for a masse of requiem, then one silver 
penie for the defence of their Commonwealth." 
Sermons, b. 1. 57. b. 

c W. Thome, C. 34. sect. 6. 

d Monast. ii. 928, 9. It is singular, that in- 
stances appear, where they had no idea of water 
carriage. " Ad omnia edificia quod fecerat abbas 



store them; e and petitions were pre- 
sented to the king/ Low sites were 
chosen (absurdly) upon account of 
convenience for fish :S and picturesque 
spots selected. 11 

Several of our English Monasteries 
were fortified, and capable of enduring 
a siege. Taylor's Index Monast. pref. 
iii. who mentions Binham Priory, St. 
Bennet's and Ewenny Priory, in South 
Wales, as an interesting specimen. 



(Faritius) prsedictus trabes et tigna de regione 
Wallensium venire fecit cum magno sumptu et 
gravi labore. Sex enim plaustra ad hoc habebat, 
et ad unum quodque illorum xii boves. Sex vel vii 
ebdomadarum erat eundi et redeundi, nam juxta 
Salopesbiriam transire oportuit." Hist. Abban- 
dunensis, IMS. in Bibl. Cott. 

e C. G. Northampt. a° 1444. C. ix. 

f Rot. Pari. 18 Ed. I. No. 89. m. 4. (Vol. I.) 

b Morant's Colchester, ii. See Ray's Wisdom 
of God. 

h See Lanthony in Dugd. Monast. ii. 



198 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



CIJURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



The later periods of mediseval Ar- 
chitecture are so thoroughly under- 
stood, as to render investigation un- 
necessary ; but that of the early ages is 
by no means established ; and as Mr. 
King^s elaborate work upon Castles 
(though of great merit in elucidating 

CHURCHES. 

British. The simplest kind is that 
of the old Chapel of Glastonbury, made 
of wattled work, as described by Wil- 
liam of Malmesbury, a and (the win- 
dows excepted) accurately sketched by 
Sammes. Whoever considers the Bri- 
tish houses upon the Antonine column 
[see fig. 1] ; knows, that the remains 
of British houses near Clun Castle 
are circular buildings, detached from 
each other, with foundations only, and 
door-posts of stone, and no windows 
or chimneys ; b and that the old Poem 
in Higden says, that the Welsh build 
houses of wattle and dab detached 
from each other; and that Froissart 
says the same of Scotch houses : will 
from such knowledge acquiesce in 
Sammes* s design, except that the win- 
dows should be round-headed and 
long. Great windows appear in the 
most ancient Welsh Churches. d Mr. 
Wilkins, in his Magna Grsecia, shows 
that the Temple of Jerusalem was of 
the barn-like form of the Parthenon/ 
and from this Greek fashion of Tem- 
ples, not Warburton's vista of trees, 
undoubtedly came the long bodies of 
our ancient and modern Churches, 

Very old Welsh Churches are of the 
Barn form, but without Towers : the 
wall at one end is raised above the 



the interior parts) does not determine 
the easy acquisition of ascertaining their 
eera by their construction, the Archi- 
tecture of Churches shall be classified 
in one column, that of Castles in the 
other. 



castles. 

British. Gildas mentions strong 
fortified houses very lofty, built upon 
the top of a hill (ex edito), and Nen- 
nius (arces) with gates and Castles, 
both of brick and stone. f This Bri- 
tish Castle, from Trercaeri and other 
specimens, is known to have been a 
round hill, hooped with walls, like a 
churn, within which were caverns, and 
circular British houses for the garrison, 
but at the very summit a large Tower, 
sometimes round, more rarely square, 
for the habitation of the Prince. Castle 
Corndochen, and Castle Prysor, as- 
cribed to the Romans, have a square, a 
round, and an oval Tower.s Launces- 
ton Keep, Mr. King very justifiably 
makes a British remain. 

Anglo-Saxon Castles. However true 
is Sir William Dugdale^s remark, that 
there were very few Anglo-Saxon 
Castles, their chief fortresses being 
earth-works, yet the Keep of Corfe, 
because called Edgar's Tower, is an 
undoubted remain. It has the light 
upper rooms, or solaria, of which the 
Anglo-Saxons were so fond. h Col- 
chester, considered by Strutt of the 
same eera, is cased with Caen stone, 
and only one fabrick raised out of the 
ruins of another, i. e. a Gundulf Keep, 
such as Rochester, Dover, Canter- 



* XV Scriptores, 293. Any other Churches must have heen very rare. See Chap. iii. 
b Britton's Architectural Antiquities, ii. 57. e XV Scriptores, 188. 

d Rowland's Mona Antiqua, 158. e Introd. viii. ix. 

f XV Script, ch. 2. 30, seq. s Gough's Camden, ii. 545. 

h XV. Scriptor. 957. X Script. 750. I believe the direct ascent, as at Conisborough, to be Anglo- 
Saxon ; the side-long itairs to be a Norman improvement, 







<feiag| 



c* 





m 



P(«3 



js «5BS%s 




3=9 <0 






j£|?s 




CHURCH ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



199 



CHURCHES. 

roof, and has arches, under which hang 
two bells exposed to the air. 

At the same time superior Churches, 
in the style of that of the 5 th and 
following centuries [see fig. 2 from 
Maillot], might exist at Bangor or 
Val Rosine. For Gregory of Tours, 
who lived in the same sixth century, 
says, a This Church has in length 155 
feet, in breadth 60, a hi height to the 
chamber or vaulting 45, windows in 
the Altar (i. e. Choir) 32, in the Cap- 
sum (Nave) 20, pillars 41 ; in the 
whole edifice 52 windows, 120 pillars, 
8 doors, 3 in the Choir, 5 in the 
Nave/' Again, " he made a Church 
150 feet long, 60 broad, 50 feet high 
from the Nave to the Vaulting, 42 
windows, 72 pillars, 8 gates." The 
Naves of Monastic Churches were 
sometimes far shorter. 1 * In the year 
709 (see fig. 3, 4, from Maillot) are two 
Churches, one with the long round- 
headed door of the British house ; the 
other, a fac-simile of the Anglo-Saxon 
house in Strutt, whose copies of an- 
cient illuminations coincide in other 
respects, as appears by the plate. 

Anglo-Saxon Churches. A round 
Tower at the West end, and a semi-cir- 
cular termination of the Chancel, are 
admitted to be undisputed denotations 
of Anglo-Saxon Churches. A modern 
sweeping position consigns nearly all 
to the Norman s, d because the anterior 
specimens are rare. (The west front of 
Malmsbury, still existent, is a work of 
Aldhelm, and very fine. e ) One remark 
is alone sufficient to show its error. 



CASTLES. 

bury, Norwich, &c. was erected, for 
the opposite materials prove the altera- 
tion. Corfe, Limme in Kent, and 
other ugly Towers, often with herring- 
bone work, especially Coningsborough, 
are, therefore, as Mr. King in the 
latter instance thinks, probably Anglo- 
Saxon. He is supported by strong 
reasons ; for, however similar may be 
the exterior forms of Oxford Keep- 
tower, and Hedingham, of later date, 
as well as others, the entrance in these 
Norman fabricks is not by a strait 
flight of steps, but one side-long and 
flanking : nor has the interior of those 
Keeps, called Anglo-Saxon by Mr. 
King, the same conveniences and arti- 
ficial annexations as the Norman. Dif- 
ferences, therefore, do exist, though 
not externally apparent, the staircase 
excepted, which undoubtedly (from the 
Keeps in Cornwall, where Norman 
customs were comparatively recent,) 
is more ancient when strait than pa- 
rallel. Besides, there is a rude an- 
cientry of structure at Coningsborough, 
&c. aided by the tradition of Saxon 
proprietors. 

Norman Castles. The Anglo-Saxon 
Keep-tower is, besides interior addi- 
tions, dilated and amplified into a 
Gundulf-keep, so as to have an addi- 
tional large central room; or, as at 
Berkeley, a ballium, with a range of 
apartments around the inside. This 
Keep, sometimes octangular, sometimes 
with circular angular Towers, is mostly 
square, with whole or demi-towers at 
the angles. Such are Dover, Roches- 



a Willis says (Cathedrals, ii. 763), that the height of the Vaulting is generally the breadth of the Nave 
and side ailes ; but at Stewkeley, &c. is an upper-croft over the Vaulting. b Du Cange, v. Capsum. 

c From the grotesque animal ornaments of monstrous heads, and interlaced dragons, I seriously 
believe maybe distinguished Anglo-Saxon from Norman Churches ; for they abound in our earliest MSS. 
and Norman figures more resemble Nature. That very curious Anglo-Saxon Church Kilpeck, in Here- 
fordshire, has no West door ; and three compartments, the Porticus, i. e. West end, the Nave, and 
a semi-circular Chancel. Each is divided by large round arches, upon the pilasters of which are figures 
of Saints, like Caryatides. There is no staircase to the rood-loft. The intersection of the zig-zag 
groins, arched roof, and narrow round-headed windows, exhibit the Chancel most pleasingly from the 
West end. The wall of the Western point-end rises above the roof, to hold two bells under arches. 
There is a rich South-door case, which had no Porch, full of interlaced serpents, &c. Around the whole 
Church runs a frieze of monstrous heads, &c. ; among which, is a tumbler holding his leg, from the 
shows of the Anglo-Saxon Gleemen. Others have the hair parted on each side, in true Anglo-Saxon 
costume. As interlaced Dragons have been found at Hyde Abbey, I believe also, that the Crypt of St. 
Peter's, Oxford, &c. is not Norman, notwithstanding recent publications. 

d Messrs. Lysons are laudable exceptions ; and where are more experienced Antiquaries ? 

e XV Scriptores, 349. 



200 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



CHURCHES. 

Stewkeley, inter alia, has been deprived 
of its Anglo-Saxon antiquity. Now it 
has an upper-croft, as has Elkstone in 
Gloucestershire, &c. &c. ; and upper- 
crofts obtained in Irish Churches, 
where the first Normans never reign- 
ed. a The Church was the parochial 
fortress, especially the Steeple ; b and 
the upper-crofts were made on account 
of the Danes. Wooden Churches were 
constantly exposed to depredation and 
fire. " There were no other means of 
saving the sacred reliques, vestments_, 
&c. of the Churches, and the wealth of 
the inhabitants, than by hiding them 
in subterraneous caves. The method, 
therefore, of building Churches en- 
tirely of stone, with upper-crofts, was 
a great improvement, as it gave a place 
of security to the goods of the inha- 
bitants, as well as to the sacred uten- 
sils : for the Churches being entirely 
of stone, could not be easily burnt; 
and the entrances into the upper crofts, 
being only by narrow newel stairs, or 
by ladders, through stone trap-doors, 
they could not be plundered without 
pulling down the building, which, in 
these desultory expeditions, they had 
seldom time to do." c Here then we 
have three proofs of Anglo-Saxon fa- 
bricks : 1 . Cylindrical Steeples. 2. 
Circular East-ends. 3. Upper-crofts. 
Conceding the similarity of the Anglo- 
Saxon and Norman styles, it is ad- 
mitted, that Hexham, built by Wil- 
frid, was very lofty in the walls,, had 
three tiers or stories, columns, pon- 
tices,d &c. Now in a Church, built 
in the time of Charlemagne (see fig. 
5, from Maillot), it is very lofty, is 
divided into stories, and plainly shows 
the origin of the Spire ; i. e t the py- 
ramidal roof of a tower rounded and 
elongated. e So also Strutt's drawings 



CASTLES. 

ter, Durham, York, &c. If the Anglo- 
Saxon Keep-toAvers occasionally oc- 
cur, they have side-long, not direct, 
ascents. 

Tivelfth Century. Berkeley, of this 
age, has the large high Norman Keep, 
but is surrounded to prevent mining 
(the usual method of siege) with a 
terras walk, exactly conformable to the 
description of an old Poem in Warton/ 
There are no walls with Towers ; only 
the Barbican, and Demi-bastions. The 
ascent to the Keep is sidelong.^ 

Hitherto the test of Castles is re- 
duced to a very simple standard : the 
lofty commanding character of the 
Keep, and the loivness of the walls, and 
paucity of contiguous buildings. This 
is well exhibited in the second volume 
of Grose^s Military Antiquities, where 
is a Gundulf-keep, &c. in perfection 
(Fortification, pi. 1). 

The Normans (says Strutt) defend- 
ed the base-court from the keep, but 
a defence from many towers must be 
better than from one. Accordingly, in 
1190, towers are ordered to be an- 
nexed to the walls of Paris ; h and, in 
1241, lofty towers and double walls 
occur. 1 The garrison, after defending 
the Avails, upon their demolition, fled 
to the keep. k To augment the fortifi- 
cations, therefore, so that, in fact, se- 
A^erai ToAA r ers became Keeps, Avas a 
desideratum AA T hich appears to have 
been supplied by EcIav. I. in the con- 
struction of CaernarA r on. Others Avere 
altered : and at Godrich, the old Saxon 
Keep being retained (Godric not being 
a Norman OAvner), a wall and four 
ToAvers Avere placed at the angles; 
each Tower being a Keep of itself in 
strength. Accordingly, in the end of 
the Thirteenth Century, the charac- 
teristicks alter from a lofty command- 






a Transact. Royal Irish Academy for 1789, pp. 80 — 83. b Hutchinson's Durham, i. 94 ; ii. 578. 

c Transactions Royal Irish Academy, ubi supra. 

d Bentham's Ely, 22, 23. I believe, from very ancient illuminations, that grotestpie capitals of 
columns are almost always Anglo-Saxon. 
e A subsequent rule for Spires was, the same height as the length of the Church- Du Cange, v. Turrile. 

Poetry, i. 84. g A guard-room afterwards oyer the stairs. 

*» D\x Cange, v. Tomdla, » JM. Paris, 504, * X Scriptores 623, 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



201 



CHURCHES. 

from undoubted Anglo-Saxon manu- 
scripts. Tickencote Church, without 
a fac-simile in Grose, through its pro- 
fusion of carved work, does not assi- 
milate a Norman specimen. In the 
county of Berks alone, Welforcl, with a 
round Tower, Pad worth, Finchamsted, 
Remenham, (with semi-circular Towers 
at the East end), Tidmarsh and Aving- 
ton, a are undoubtedly rescued from 
the hands of those Normans, who 
altered everything in England, and yet 
had a similar architecture. The Nor- 
man fabricks appear to have had less 
carved work, but much more elegant 
proportions, and greater beauty and 
pattern as a whole, than Anglo-Saxon 
Churches. Luton Church is said to 
be of conventual fashion, because it 
has two Porches to the North and 
South each, and two Chapels adjoin- 
ing to the East end of the North and 
South ailes. b That this was not ex- 
clusively a Conventual fashion, nor 
was an invariable form of Abbey- 
Churches, is evident, whatever may 
be the grounds upon which Dr. Du- 
carel broached this position. Paro- 
chial Churches, though not appro- 
priated, were, if situate upon abbatial 
estates, at least sometimes distinguish- 
ed by transepts, though the erection 
of the Church was at different periods. 
The splendor of Conventual Churches 
is thus explained : personal expence, 
or secular indulgence, was culpable in 
a Monk ; but what was expended in 
ornamenting the Church, was thought 
to be glorifying God. c 

Ancient Churches, most splendid in 
the reign of the first Edward, d had 
various peculiarities now unknown, 
which shall be respectively detailed. 
As the High Altar represented the 
Church, and had four corners, because 
the gospel was extended through the 
four quarters of the globe, e that shall 
be first considered. Its dimensions 
are thus stated by Bishop Hakewill: 



CASTLES. 



ing Keep, which designates the whole 
as an object of import, to a large and 
conspicuous Tower, commonly at an 
angle, from greater command every 
ivay, and to numerous high Turrets and 
Toivers, with high walls between; all 
one ivliole building as to external aspect, 
not of disjunct parts, as the Anglo- 
Saxon and Norman Castles. The outer 
ivalls too are quite high. In short, the 
whole Castle is a Keep enlarged into a 
walled and towered Court. Such is 
Caernarvon, &c. 

Fourteenth Century. This is a single 
Castle, square, with angular towers 
and machicollated gateways, sometimes 
flanked by slender round towers. Thus 
Lumley, built in 13S9, Hilton, Boden- 
ham, and Cowling, in Kent. Mr. 
King says, that the low flat round 
Keep of Windsor was found there 18 
Edw. III. by William of Wickham; 
but as another occurs at Leeds in 
Kent, also built by Wickham, and 
Queenborough of this age, however 
modernized, has similar Towers, they 
also are fashions of this tera. 

Fifteenth Century. The general cha- 
racteristick is lightness; light slender 
machicollated Towers. So Caister in 
Norfolk. 

In the rich illuminated Roman d^A- 
lexandre in the Bodleian Library, are 
numerous representations of 

Castellated Mansions. They are like 
Beverstone in Gloucestershire, built 
temp. Edw. III.; lofty compact Keeps, 
but windowy, with angular demi-towers 
square ; the faces diagonal to the build- 
ing, but differing from Castles, in 
having pine-end roofs. Hurstmon- 
ceaux, and the Oxford College, and 
Quadrangular Mansions, are no more 
than single-castles housified, begotten, 
in jockey language, from Gundulph 
Keeps, whose dam was the lofty old 
Keep- tower. 

Sixteenth Century. The Castle adapt- 
ed to residence and war, occurs at 



* Lysons's Britann. i. 205, 322. b Bibl. Topogr. Britami. vol. iv. No. VIII. p. 11. 

c Eadmer, 109. The idea was taken from the splendour of the Heathen X eni pl e s. See Hor. Od. 82 
0d. 14, d Callaway's Heraldic Enquiries, p. 36, seq. « t V q Caruotensis, 787 



202 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



CHURCHES. 

" Allowing then an Altar of three foote 
and an halfe high, and a rising to it 
from the lower floore of a foote high; 
the height of the Altar from the lower 
floore will be foure foote and a halfe, 
or three cubits, which is the measure 
required in the Leviticall Law, and 
differs little in height from the Altars 
in forraine parts, or those which are 
yet standinge with us, if wee likewise 
take their height from the lower floore ; 
which, by reason of the continued and 
easie degrees of ascent to them, may 
not unfitly be counted their basis or 
foote/' a The authentic mark of an 
Altar-table was its five crosses. b As 
no Altar could be consecrated without 
relicks, c there was a small stone, called 
the Sigillum Altaris, by which the 
aperture for insertion of the relicks 
was closed up d by mortar tempered in 
holy water. What are the horns of 
the Altar has been doubted by War- 
ton. They have been called the corners 
of the Altar. f Du Cange says, the 
horn of the Altar is the side, where the 
epistle and gospel were read.s Sym- 
machus, Gregory of Tours, and others,* 1 
mention the Siborium, an arch over the 
altar, supported by four lofty columns, 
in imitation of the Propitiatory, which 
covered the ark. It was sometimes 
illuminated and adorned with tapers. 
Where there was no Siborium, a mere 
canopy 1 hung over the Altar, which 
was most common among us; a fine 
stone screen full of niches being the 
back of the Altar, from which the 
canopy projects. Curtains called the 
Tetravelum were annexed, and drawn 
round, that the Priest might not be 
confused by view of the spectators. 1 * 
Under this ciborium or canopy, hung 
the Pioc, or box, containing the Host, 

a Apologie, p. 221. 
b Gent. Mag. for 1799, p. 860. 
c Lyndw. Provinc. 249. 
d Du Cange in voce, and v. Malta. 
e I. 302. Emend, v. ii. 
f Pictet. Serm. sur Gen. c. xxviii. v. 17. 
s v. Cornu Altaris. 

h Bishop Jewell's Reply to Harding, p. 311, 312. 
1 Called Urnbraculum. Du Cange. 
k Du Cange, v. Ciborium, Cortona, Propitia* 
torittm, Tetra-velum, 



CASTLES. 

Thornbury. The range of apartments 
is affixed to a strong Tower at one 
end, which flanks and protects them. 
There is also a large Court, with bar- 
racks and loop-holes. 

Mr. King^s opinion is, that there is 
no rule in the construction of Castles, 
from their different aspects : certainly 
not, if, instead of taking pure speci- 
mens, of which the dates are known, 
recourse be had to mongrel buildings, 
altered at various times ; but, in the 
construction of all Fortresses, rule and 
plan are matters of course. 



commonly a Dove of Goldsmiths 
work, 1 esteemed so sacred, that upon 
the march of hostile armies, it was 
especially prohibited from theft; and 
Henry the Fifth delayed his army for 
a whole day, to discover the thief who 
had stolen one. m A common Altar- 
piece was a picture of the General 
Judgement, called Mappa Mundi; u but 
others occur, though, I am inclined 
to think, no subject was admissible, 
which was not either contemporary 
with, or posterior to, the passion of 
Christ. Over the Altar was put the 
Pallas carried out against fires; and 
over the Pall,v the Corporal, always 
made of linen, according to an order of 
Sextus in the year 133. V The Ante- 
pendium was a veil which hung before, 1 * 
as the Dorsale behind. 3 Behind and 
about the Altar were Perticce, or beams, 
ornamented at the great feasts with re- 
liquaries of ivory, silver, &c. t Besides 
Piscinas, hereafter described, were the 
stalls, where the officiating Ministers 
retired, during parts of the service per- 
formed by the choir. u Du Cange says, 



1 Bp. Jewell, ubi supra. 

» Tho. de Elmham in Vitfi, Henrici V. p. 39, 53. 

n Gough's Sepulchral Monuments, Introd. vol. 
ii. p. 3. ° Lysons's Britannia, ii. 117. 

p Du Cange, v. Palla Altaris. 

4 M. Polonus sub anno. 

r Du Cange. It is the frontale of Staveley, 
Churches, 187. s Du Cange. 

1 Du Cange, v. Pertica. See Dec. Scriptor. 
col. 1300. 

a Hoc facto, sacerdos cum suis ministris in sedi- 
bus ad hoc paratis se recipiatt Missale Antiq* 
MS. Pemb. Coll. Oxon, 



CHURCHY-ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



203 



" The Sedes Majestatis is a seat by the 
side of the Altar, in which the Minister 
about to celebrate sits, while the Kyrie, 
Gloria, and Creed, are sung ; from 
whence, as often as he arose, the Deacon 
removing his hood, or amess, used to 
comb his hair ; although that office is 
now done in the Vestiary [see § Abbot] 
before he comes to the Altar." 

The Altar-plate stood upon a side 
table called Credentia, or Minister ium. a 

Besides this, were the Altaria Ani- 
marum, where Masses were said for 
the dead; b rarely attended but by the 
Priest, a boy to assist him, and perhaps, 
a relative or two of the deceaseds 

Lecterns, where the epistle and gospel 
were sung, and certain services of the 
dead performed/ 1 Some Lecterns were 
made in the shape of an Eagle, to de- 
signate St. John the Evangelists The 
Analogium was a reading-desk of 
Spanish metal cast, over which hung a 
gilt eagle with expanded wings. It 
was sometimes taken for the Martyro- 
logy, or Necrology, because that book 
was always laid upon it, to read from 
it what belonged to the service of the 
day. f 

Candlesticks, The first of these 
known in the Church were some of the 
form of crosses, presented to the Arians 
by the Empress Eudocia, and borne 
by them in procession. s Afterwards 
in the Choir were candlesticks called 
Arbores or trees, with many lights 
rising from the ground. 11 The Statutes 
of Clugny say, " On the above festivals 
in which that iron machine is accus- 
tomed to be lighted, which is com- 
monly called Ezra, because it was il- 
luminated by glass lamps/' 1 There 
were also pendent chandeliers, called 
Coronal In different parts of the 

* Du Cange. b Du Cange, v. Altare. 

c Dugd. Monast. ii. 367. Peck's Desider. Cu- 
riosa, 229. 

d Davies, ch. xxi. sect. 10. 

e Du Cange, v. Aquila. 

f Du Cange. A very fine one is engraved in 
Notices des MSS. dans la Bibliotheque Nationale, 
vol. vi. PI. I. 

« Socrates, l.vi.c. 8. h Du Cange, v. Arbores. 

1 Du Cange, v. Ezra. 

k Ibid. At the Chapel of Ford Abbey in De- 
vonshire, when on a visit to J. F. Gwynne, esq. I 



Church, sometimes in front of the 
High Altar, were Herses or stages, de- 
corated with palls, tapers, &c. in me- 
mory of deceased great persons. 1 

The seats of those who sung in the 
Choir, consisted of two parts : Antica 
and Postica. In the Postica were the 
folding seats, which were raised when 
the singers were to stand. The fold- 
ing part afforded a kind of seat, called 
a misericord. The part Antica made 
a leaning stock, upon which they re- 
clined when the Venia was to be sought. m 
For though Venia was a general term 
for genuflexion, prostration, or similar 
gesture, there was the greater Metancea, 
very low inclination of the body ; the 
smaller only bending the neck and 
head. n Thus the Oseney Missal says, 
" Let them raise themselves, and lift 
their seats, and lye upon the forms, 
saying the Lord's Prayer/' To un- 
derstand this, [it is necessary to ob- 
serve, that the seniors only leaned 
upon the forms ; the juniors and the 
boys lay prostrate upon the pavement 
opposite the stalls ;V for to be raised to 
a forma, the word for a stall, was a 
promotion. ! Kneeling cushions and 
hassocks were common. 1 ' The Monks 
bowed at the Gloria Patri, except at the 
hours of the Virgin Mary ; and sat at 
all the psalms, at least in this service. s 
The stalls were ornamented with tapes- 
try on festivals ? and the whole Church 
hung with black on funerals of state : 
as were the houses of the deceased, 
and black curtains over the pictures. 
Over the body was put a black pall, 
with armorial escutcheon s. u 

The Naves of Churches were not 



was astonished to find two beautiful Altar-candle- 
sticks, exact facsimiles of some classical Cande- 
labra. 

1 There is a very fine specimen in the Prints 
concerning Abbot Islip, in the Vetusta Monumenta. 

m Du Cange, v. Forma. n Ibid. 

Erigant se, et levent sedilia, et jaceant supra 
formas dicentes orationem Dominicam. MS. Arch. 
A. Bodl. 73. 

i 1 Reyner, Onomast. v. Prostemales P salmi. 
See Dugd. Monast. i. 951. 

i Du Cange, v. levari supra Chorum. 

r Id. v. Genuflectile, Genuflexorium, Basse. 

s Du Cange, v. Horai. 

4 Id. v. Tapetias. 

u Id. v. Listra, Scutellum, 



204 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE. &C. 



always paved,a whence the use of 
rushes, according to Cowell, b for warmth 
and better kneeling. Men used to 
stand on the right hand or South side; 
women on the left or North. c 

Organ. This was of very different 
form to the modern, the pipes being 
exposed ; and such an organ was, and 
perhaps is now, at Uley Church in 
Gloucestershire. The organist was an- 
ciently no separate officer, but one of 
the society/ 1 We hear of an Arch- 
deacon playing upon one in the Anglo- 
Saxon cera. e The Anglo-Saxon had 
copper pipes. f Wulstan, in his pro- 
logue to the life of St. S within, men- 
tions one with twelve pair of bellows 
above, fourteen below, four hundred 
pipes, and seventy strong men required 
to work it.S In 1450 that of St. Al- 
bany's was the best in the kingdom. 11 
In the 14th century they were very 
general in Abbies i 1 Davies mentions 
more than one in a Church. 

Piscinas, or sinks, where the Priest 
emptied the water he washed his hands 
in, and where flies (because the em- 
blems of unclean thoughts) and other 
filth in the chalice, in short, all conse- 
crated waste stuff that could be so, 
were poured out. k 

Du Cange calls it the font, where 
the Priest washed his hands before he 
performed the sacred offices, in allusion 
to the psalm, " I will wash my hands 
in innocency," &c. We order, says an 
ancient synod, a font for washing the 
hands of the celebrating Priests, which 
may be either affixed to the wall or 
Pensile, and furnish water with a linen 
pall." The Lavatory is also called the 
horn of the Altar, where the Priest 
washed his hands in the Mass. 1 Pisci- 



a Nichols's Progress of Q,. Eliz. b v. Cirpus. 

c Du Cange, v. Pars Virorum. 

a Warton's Sir T. Pope, 424. 

c Angl. Sacr. ii. 43. 

1 Histor. Rames. ch. liv. 

* Du Cange, v. Organa. What clumsy ma- 
chines they were, may be seen by the prints in 
Strutt, Hawkins, and Burney. 

h Warton's Sir T. Pope, 345. 

' Burney's Musick, ii. 376. 

k Lyndw. et Du Cange, v. Piscina, 

> Du Cange, v. Foris Lavatorium, 



nas are sometimes double ; sometimes 
single. 111 

Lockers, or small niches, held the 
Ampulla, or cruets of mixed wine and 
water for the Altar ; and of oil for holy 
unction and chrism. n In the Old 
Anglo-Saxon Church of Kilpeck in 
Herefordshire, there are two Lockers, 
but no Piscina. In a corner, stands a 
moveable double stone bason, formed 
like a dice-box, or hour-glass, without 
feet; used either for a Piscina or holy 
water, there being a large font besides. 

Pensile Tables, containing genealo- 
gies of buried persons ;° number of 
pardons granted to those who prayed 
for the deceased ;P registers of miracles ?L 
histories ; and duties of the temporary 
Priests. 1 * 

Excubitoria, or apartments for per- 
sons who watched the whole night. s 

In Lincoln Cathedral is a chamber 
of timber, where the searchers of the 
Church used to lie ;• under which, every 
night, they had an allowance of bread 
and beer. At the shutting of the 
Church- doors, the custom was to toll 
the greatest of our Lady's bells, forty 
tolls ; and after, to go to that place and 
eat and drink, and then to walk round 
and search the Church. 1 

Roodlofts, or galleries across the 
Nave, at the entrance of the Chancel, 
or Choir, w T here were the images of the 
Crucifixion, Mary, and John, and some- 
times rows of Saints, on either side^ 
and where the musicians played. 



in Lysons's Britannia, ii. 61. 

n Du Cange, v. Ampullae. 

° MS. Cott. Jul. F. vii. 

p Herbert's Ames, i. 420. 

Q - Willis's Cathedrals, i. 35. 

r To make these was the Chantor's office. The 
following was the form of one of them : " Tabula 
sic fiat, 1. evang. fr. ille. 1. pl'am fr. ille Gr. ille 
et ille. R. cantores." " Tabula sine invit. fiat, 
post l'c. et Lx r lx w ponatur mensee lector." MS. 
Arch. A. Bodl. 73. Any one prevented by infir- 
mity or otherwise from officiating, gave notice to 
the Prior (of Winton), or his substitute, who no- 
minated another. Lowth's Wykeham, 282. It 
seems, that at Shene, there were no less than 
thirty *-f our tables hanging up in the Nave (devo- 
tional ones). Itin. S. Simeon, et W. Worcest. p. 
299. 

3 Custumale Roffense, p. 171. 

* Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, 305. 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



205 



There is a remarkable similarity in 
the style of Roodlofts. The gallery is 
commonly supported by a cross beam, 
richly carved with foliage, sometimes 
superbly gilt ; and underneath runs a 
screen of beautiful open Tabernacle 
work. One at Honiton in Devon, pre- 
cisely resembles that engraved by Sir 
R. C. Hoare. a Mary and John were 
not always the images which accom- 
panied the Crucifix, for we find the 
four Evangelists substituted instead. 13 
At Gilden Morden in Cambridgeshire, 
the Roodloft is very large and com- 
plete, having a double screen, forming 
two pews, about six feet square, on 
each side of the passage to the Chan- 
cel; the upper parts of light open 
Gothic work of the 15th century; the 
lower part is painted with flowers, and 
figures of Edmund and Erkenwold, 
with their names and inscriptions 
added. 

Confessionals. At Gloucester, it is 
a large chair by the side of a door. At 
the ruined Abbey of Maig Adare in Ire- 
land, are stalls with oblong holes cut 
in them for confession. d Some are 
arched stone vaults, through which was 
a passage from the Choir to a Chapel, 
formerly very dark. Here the people 
stood, the Priest being within the 
Altar rails, and the voice passing 
through a wall made hollow for the 
purposed On each side of the Altar, 
at Crewkerne in Somersetshire, is a 
door leading into a small room; that 
by which the penitents entered for 
confession has two swine carved over 
it, to signify their pollution ; that, by 
which they returned, two angels, to 
signify their purity . f At Gloucester 
two angels look upwards : it is more 
probable that this was a pictorial re- 
commendation of confession, founded 
upon the principles of its absolving and 
saving power, mentioned in the first 
chapter. 

a Giraldus, Plate 5, f. 3. 
b Warton's Sir T. Pope, 348. 
c Lysons's Britannia, II. 59. 
d Sir R. C. Hoare's Tonr, p. 51. 
e Parkin's Norwich, 187. 

f Collinson's Somersetshire, II. 262. See Sir 
R. C. Hoare's Giraldus, I. 29. 



Galilees, where the processions end- 
ed : places or peivs aloft, for the Abbotts 
family to view processions from ;S lines 
cut in the pavement to show the room 
to be kept clear for processions ; and 
circular stones, to mark where each 
should take his stand at such times. 11 
In the Nave of the Church of York are 
small circles, engraved on the pave- 
ment, marking each place in the length 
of this Nave, which, being twelve times 
repeated, make exactly an English 
mile. They showed us twelve holes 
against the great door, with a little 
peg, which served to mark the miles, 
to any One chusing to measure them, 
changing every time this peg into a 
fresh hole, in order not to misreckon. 1 

Lady-chapels, or Retro-choirs. This 
Chapel was so called, because, in gene- 
ral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary u The 
sick and strange Monks commonly sat 
there. In the Rule of the Order of 
Victor of Paris, it is said, (i Those, who 
from sickness, are in the Retro-choir 
by licence/' Again [ch. xxxix], (e As 
long as a brother is in the Retro-choir, 
they ought not to be put in the table 
for officiating. The sick, who are in 
the Retro-choir, ought to stand, if they 
can, at the Te Deum, Benedictus, and 
Gospel." Thus [in ch. lii], « After 
the glory of the first psalm, let no one 
enter the Choir without licence. After 
half an hour, let no one enter at all, 
but go to the Retro-choir, and after- 
wards beg pardon in the Chapter." k 
A deformed child, waiting for a mira- 
culous cure, lay, on his birth-day, and 
that following, in the Lady-chapel at 
Malmsbury. 1 After the Reformation,, 
it was often given to the scholars of 
free-schools for the purpose of morn- 
ing prayers, &c. ra 

Cripts, for n clandestine drinking, feast- 
ing, and things of that kind. Oswald, 

k Or where the Monks were exposed in penance. 

h Gostling's Canterbury Walk, 203. 

' Antiquarian Repertory, II. 217. 

K Du Cange, v. Retro-chorus. 

1 Anglia Sacra, I. 42. 

m Phillips's Shrewsbury, 95. 

n Cust. Roff. 235. 

° The holy-water stones were rilled with fresh 
water every Sunday morning by the bell-ringers, 
or servitors of the Church, and a Monk copse- 



206 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



afterwards Archbishop of York, re- 
ceived from his Abbot a secret place in 
the Church, that he might indulge in 
private prayer. This secret place was 
a Crypt, called a Confessional; before 
the door of which, twelve poor, all 
clerks, used to receive daily alms ; and 
the Cript had an Altar where he cele- 
brated Mass. a 

Tapers, ornamented with flowers, 
used on high festivals to burn before 
particular images, and be borne in pro- 
cessions^ 

Saint's bells, the use of which was 
this, says M. Harding, (s We have com- 
monly seen the Priest, when he sped 
him to say his service, ring the saunce- 
bell, and speake out aloud, Pater Nos- 
ter, by which token the people were 
commanded silence, reverence, and 
devotion.^ c According to Staveley, 
and Warton from him, it was rung 
when the Priest came to the " Holy, 
holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, or Trisa- 
gium, in order that all persons without 
might fall on their knees in reverence 
of the Host, then elevated." d They 
then bowed the head, spread or ele- 
vated the hands, and said, " Salve, Lux 
Mundi," &c. Hail, Light of the World, 
&c. e In opposition to Barclay before 
quoted, Erasmus says, f No person ever 
passed by a Church or cross, without 
pulling off his hat or bowing. 

Towers, for the juniors to learn the 
Church service in.s 

Triforia, or upper ways round the 
Church, for the convenience of sus- 
pending tapestry and similar ornaments 
on festivals. 11 

Pulpits, which generally faced the 
West, that the peopled faces, in all 
acts of devotion, might look towards 



crated it early in the morning before divine service. 
Davies, &c. 

» Ang. Sacr. II. 195. 

b M. Paris, 1056. 

c Bp. Jewell's Reply, p. 133. 

d Du Cange mentions a wheel, appended to the 
wall near the Altar, full of bells, and whirled 
round on this occasion, v. Rota. One occurs in 
an Anglo Saxon Church. Dugd. Monast. I. 104, 
1. 40—50. e Lyndw. 249. 

{ Monit. Psedagog. Colloq. 35. 
Gervas. Cant. 1292. h Ibid. 1295. 



the East, according to the custom of 
the primitive times ; the change to the 
South, or other direction, being a re- 
form of the Puritans ; and Sir Walter 
Mildmay, in the foundation of the 
Chapel of Emanuel College, Cam- 
bridge (which stood North and South 
out of opposition), first setting the 
example. 1 

In the annals of Dunstable Priory is 
this item : " In 1483 made a clock over 
the pulpit." k A stand for an hour- 
glass still remains in many pulpits. A 
Rector of Bibury used to preach two 
hours, regularly turning the glass. Af- 
ter the text, the Esquire of the parish 
withdrew, smoaked his pipe, and re- 
turned to the blessing. 1 Lecturers' 
pulpits have also hour-glasses." 1 The 
Priest had sometimes a watch found 
him by the parish. 11 

Painted Glass. Warton says, that 
the stem of Jesse was a favourite sub- 
ject. Sugerius thus proves it : " I have 
caused to be painted a beautiful variety 
of new windows, from the first, which 
begins with the stem of Jesse in the 
Caput EcclesicB [the part where the 
Altar was erected, Du Cange] as far as 
that which is over the principal gate." 
Any miraculous events happening to 
persons, were represented in their Cha- 
pels and Churches in stained glass, or 
such as happened within the knowledge 
of the erector.P Common subjects 
were, a genealogical series of benefac- 
tors — arms and figures of donors of 
lights — the seven sacraments of the 
Romish Church — many crowned heads 
with curled hair and forked beards, re* 
present the Edwards, Richard II. and 
Henry IV. — whole length figures, with 
crowns and sceptres, Jewish Kings, 
connected with some scriptural history, 
universally so when in profiled The 
Saints are known by the following at- 
tributes : 



• Heylin's Hist. Presbyterians, 329. 

k Bibl. Topogr. Brit. vol. IV. No. VIII. p. 11. 

1 Rudder's Gloucestershire, in Bibury. 

m Wood-cuts in Hawkins's Musiok, II. 332. 

n Manning's Surrey, I. 531. 

Du Cange, v. Jesse. 

p Joinville, I. 230. * Dallaway's Arts. 






CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE^ — &C. 



207 



Peter, The keys and a triple cross; 
sometimes a Church. 

Paul. A sword, sometimes a book, 
or drawing a sword across the knee. 

Gabriel. A lily, a flower pot full of 
which is frequently placed between him 
and the Virgin. 

John the Baptist. A long mantle 
and long wand, surmounting by a small 
shaft, forming a cross ; and a lamb is 
generally at his feet, or crouching, or 
imprest on a book in his hand, or on 
his hand without a book. 

John the Evangelist. A chalice, with 
a dragon or serpent issuing out of it, 
and an open book. 

James the Great. A club and a saw. 

Thomas. A Spear. 

Simon. A Saw in a boat. 

Matthew. A Fuller's club. 

James the Less. A Pilgrim's staff, 
book, scrip, and hat, with an escallop 
shell in it. 

Bartholomew. A knife. 

Philip. A crosier. 

Anthony. A rosary on his mantle, a 
tau-cross, at his feet a pig, with a bell 
round his neck. 

Nicholas. A tub, with three or four 
naked infants in it. 

Margaret. Treads on or pierces a 
Dragon, with a cross ; sometimes holds 
a book, sometimes wears a crown. 

Clare holds the expositorium. 

Apollonia. A palm branch and tooth. 

Barbara. A palm branch and book, 
or tower, wherein she was confined. 

Mary Magdalen. Dishevelled hair, 
and a box of ointment. 

Mary Egyptiaca. Her hair all round 
her. 

Elizabeth. St. John and the Lamb 
at her feet. 

Anne. A book in her hand. 

Dorothy. A basket of fruit. 

Sebastian. Pierced through with 
arrows. 

Edward the Confessor. Crowned, a 
ring on his right hand, sometimes a 
short spear. 

Edmund. An arrow. 

Ursula. A book and arrow. 

St, John of Beverley. Pontifically 



habited, his right hand blessing, his 
left holding a cross. 

Thomas of Becket. A mitre and 
crosier ; his hand elevated to give the 
Benediction. 

Asaph. A bishop with a crosier, 
hand elevated. 

Bridget. A book and crosier. 

Christopher. A gigantic figure, cross- 
ing a river, with the infant Saviour 
upon his shoulder. 

St. John Almoner. A pilgrim with 
a nimbus, a loaf in the right hand, pil- 
grim's staff in the left, and a large 
rosary. 

St. Flower. Her head in her hand, 
and a flower sprouting out of her neck. 

St. Lucy. A short staff in her hand, 
like a sceptre, and the devil behind her. 

Agnes. Carries her breasts in a dish 
full of blood. 

Euyene, as St. Lucy. 

Stephen. A stone in his hand, and 
book. 

Paul the Hermit. A long robe, and 
string of beads. 

Paulinus. The Devil looking her in 
the face. 

St, Loy. A crosier and hammer. 

Seven Sleepers. As many persons 
praying. 

Felix, &e. Triple crown and anchor. 

Lawrence. A book and gridiron. 

Roche. Boots, a wallet, dog sitting 
with a loaf in his mouth; Roche shows 
a boil on his thigh. 

Exaltation of the Cross. A King 
kneeling and worshipping the Cross, 
held by a person in heaven. 

Invention of the Cross. The cross 
lifted out of a tomb amidst spectators. 

Cosme and Damian. One holds a 
round box, the other a big-bellied round 
bottle. 

Michael, in armour, with a cross, or 
pair of scales. 

Francis. A Fryer's dress, with a 
figure half human, half a cross, from 
which issue lines to his heart, feet, and 
hands, for the five wounds of Christ. 

Denys holds his head in his hand. 

Eleven thousand Virgins. Young 
women crowned, kneeling. 



208 



CHURCH — ARCHITECTURE, &C. 



Crispin and Crispinian. At work in 
a shoemaker's shop. 

Catherine. Her wheel, or a spear, 
with the point downwards. 

Erasmus lies on the ground while 
his bowels are extracting, by being 
wound round a windlass above. 

St. Lewis, King of France. A King 
kneeling, at his feet the arms of France, 
a dove dropping on his head, a bishop 
blessing. 

Popes have the triple crown and 
anchor, or triple cross, and a Dove 
whispering in their ears. 

This catalogue is from Gough's Se- 
pulchral Monuments, aided by the 
wood-cuts in the Golden Legend, &c. 
&c. 

At the Reformation, the pictures in 
stained-glass, even of benefactors, were 
removed as superstitious. 3 

It was usual for guests of rank, after 
a long visit, to give an escutcheon of 
their arms in stained-glass, to the bow- 
window of the Hall. b King Charles I. 
and Queen Mary, being entertained by 
the Clergy in the Deanery of Winches- 
ter, his arms and initials, together with 
those of the Queen, were, as a memo- 
rial, placed in one of the windows of 
the Dean^s Hall, where they remain to 
this clay. c King Henry VIII. and 
Anne Boleyn made a visit to Prink- 
nash, near Gloucester, and their arms 
still remain in the windows. 

Encaustic Pavements. In the Nor- 
man centuries there is abundant proof, 
that Mosaic work was adopted, as an 
embellishment of the High Altar, and 
before shrines; at first exhibiting scrip- 
tural stories, painted upon glazed bricks 
and tiles of an irregular shape, fitted 
together as the colour suited; and upon 
the same plan as the stained glass in 
windows. As an improvement in the 
succeeding ages, the bricks were made 
equilateral, and about four inches 
square, which, when arranged and con- 
nected, produced an effect very resem- 



? Wavton's Sir T. Pope, 199. b Id. 233. 

c Hist, of Winchester, cr. 8vo, 1761, II. 126. 



blant of the Roman designs ; yet, want- 
ing their simplicity and taste. The 
wreaths, circles, and single compart- 
ments, retain marks of Gothic incor- 
rectness, and of as gross deviation from 
the original as the Saxon mouldings. 
At what period heraldick devices were 
introduced, cannot be ascertained with 
precision; but, it is probable, that 
when they were carved, or painted 
upon escutcheons, or stained in glass, 
the floors received them likewise as a 
new ornament. The arms of founders 
and benefactors were usually inserted, 
during the middle centuries, after the 
Conquest (though doubtless there are 
earlier instances), when many of the 
greater Abbies employed kilns for pre- 
paring them : from which the Conven- 
tual and their dependent parochial 
Churches were supplied. Some have 
conjectured, that the painted tiles were 
made by Italian artizans settled in this 
country ; and, it has been thought, that 
Monks, having acquired the art of 
painting and preparing them for the 
kiln, in the manner of porcelain, amused 
their leisure, by designing and finish- 
ing them. Exquisite delicacy and va- 
riety (though seldom of more than two 
colours), are particularly discernible in 
those of a date when this branch of en- 
caustick painting had reached its high- 
est perfection. It should be remarked, 
that the use of these painted bricks was 
confined to consecrated places, almost 
without exception ; and that all of them 
discovered since the Reformation have 
been upon the sites of Convents, pre- 
served either in Churches, or in houses 
to which strong tradition confirms their 
removal. Amongst those of latter date, 
arms impaled and quartered, as well as 
scrolls, rebuses, and cyphers, are very 
frequent ; and, interspersed with other 
devices, are single figures, such as gry- 
phons, spread-eagles, roses, fleurs-de- 
lis, &c. of common heraldic usage in- 
deed, but not individually applied. 1 * It 
appears, that in some instances, they 
formed a kind of tesselated pavement, 

d Dallaway's Heraldic Enquiries, p. 107 — 109. 



CHURCH. 



209 



the middle representing a maze or 
labyrinth, about two feet in diameter, 
so artfully contrived, that a man fol- 
lowing all the intricate meanders of its 
volutes, could not travel less than a 
mile before he got from one end to the 
other. The tiles are baked almost to 
vitrification; and wonderfully resist 
damp and wear. a 

Actual tesselated pavements once 
existed. A manuscript Anglo-Saxon 
Glossary, cited by Junius, says, " Of 
this kind of work, Mosaick in small 
dies, is little in England. Howbeit I 
have seen of it a specimen upon Church 
floors, before Altars, as before the High 
Altar at Westminster, though it be but 
gross. " b 

The bells (of which the ropes had 
brass, and sometimes silver rings, at 
the end, for the hand,) were anciently 
rung by the Priests themselves, after- 
wards by servants ; and sometimes by 
those incapable of other duties, as per- 
sons who were blind. d At certain sea- 
sons the Choir was strewed with hay, 
at others with sand. On Easter sab- 
bath with ivy-leaves ; at other times 
with rushes. e The doors were locked 
till Prime, and from dinner to Vespers ; f 



a Henniker Major on Norman Tiles, pp. 8, 9, 
13. b Co well, v. Mosaick Work. 

c Du Cange, v. Circuit, Campana. In the clock- 
tower was a Nolula, or double-bell. Spelm. Gloss. 
v. Campana. 

d Davies, &c. " In the Monasterye of West- 
minster ther was a fayre yong man, which was 
blynde, whom the Monkes hadde ordeyned to rynge 
the bellys." Gold. Leg. f. ckxxviii. b. 

e VigiM Omnium Sanctorum et Nat. Dom. ja- 
cietur fenum copiose in choro et in circuitu chori ; 
feria secunda post dominicam in ramis Palmarum 
ipsius (cantoris) prudentia scopabitur Ecclesia. 
Eodemque die jacietur fenum in choro, et in cir- 
cuitu chori copiose. Sabbato autem Adventu Do- 
mini et primo die Quad rage sira Be in choro jacietur. 
Sancto sabbato Paschse spargentur solia ederse. 
Quatuor sollempnitatibus, sc. Pentecostes, sancti 
Athelwoldi, assumptione sanctse Marise, et Nativi- 
tatis, in choro et in circuitu chori cirpus sufficien- 
ter spargetur. In quatuor solempnitatibus, sc. 
Ascensionis, sc. Joh. Baptist, sc. Bened. sc. Mich, 
tantum in choro jacietur. MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 
195, 19G. 

f Ad sonitum nee ante primam diluculo pulsatam 
reserabuntur hostia Ecclesise ; conventu ad pran- 
diumurgente, usque ad vesperas obserabuntur. Id. 
198. b. See White's Selborne. 



and the books in the Choir, at least 
some of them, were covered with 
cloth s.s 

The Nuns' Church, Lyndwood de- 
scribes as entirely surrounded by walls,* 1 
which answers to Jerom's account of a 
Nunnery, " That it should be so in- 
closed, as scarcely to leave an entrance 
for birds." 1 Visitation injunctions or- 
der a door at their Choir, " That no 
straungers may look on them, nor they 
on the straungers, during divine ser- 
vice." k 

The Brigettine Nuns took the sacra- 
ment through a window, where they 
could be both seen and heard: 1 and 
the mitigated Rule of the Order of St. 
Clare directs, that in the wall, which 
divided the Nuns from the Church, an 
iron grate, or perforated plate, with 
projecting spikes outward, should be 
made, and have a small door of an iron 
plate, through which the Priest could 
give them the chalice and paten. m 

It seems that divine service was very 
much abused. The Saxon Monks were 
censured for velocity. 11 The services 
were not sung in the proper tone and 
note, and the psalmody immoderate 
and indistinct.P The prayers were 
shortened in the manner of persons at 
work or on a journey ;i for the Monks 
even then said their hours. 1 ' The fes- 
tivals were neglected. Secular customs 
were intermingled with the Mass. The 
hours were not observed through fault 



s Ad pannos abluendos qui sunt supra libros in 
choro, sive contra Natale, sive contra Pentecosten, 
sive contra festivitatem S. Maris, si opus fuerint, 
ut laventur cellerarius debet praebere prsecentori. 
Id. 201. b. 

h P. 153. » Lopez's Epit. S. S. p. 405. 

k Monast. ii. 896. 'Ex regula. 

m Bullarium Romanum, i. p. 155. 

u In nimia velocitate psallendo Deum potius ad 
iracundiam inconsiderate, quod absit, provocent. 
MS. Harl. 652. 

Prsecipimus ut cantent capitula, preces, versi- 
culos, et collectas, tarn in ecclesia quam in caplo, 
secundum tonam et notam nostr/ almi religionis. 
MS. Ashm. Mus. 1519. f. 14. a. 

p Ut psahnodia in choro moderate et distincte 
celebraretur. Id. 27. a. 

i Curtse ad modum laborantium et itinerantium. 
MS. Mus. Ashm. 1519. f. 27. 

r Monast. i. 87& 



210 



CHURCH. 



of the clock. a The services of founders 
and benefactors were unattended to. b 
They did not even give personal at- 
tendance, through the negligence of 
Abbots. d Some scarcely celebrated 
four times in the year/ though every 
one in priest's orders was to do so at 
least once in eight days. f There was 
much disorderly noise, tumult, laughter, 
gossiping, and disputes, as well as loung- 
ing about the Church, conversing with 
brethren, or seculars, and idly turning 
over the books.? The nocturnal office 
was ill-sung, through those who needed 
light not having candles. 11 

The Bell which rung to Mattins was 
called the Fool-waker, in ridicule of 
those who got up when it rung. 1 

Their music (cantus fr actus et divi- 
sus) consisted of a method of flgurate 
descant, in which the various voices 
following one another were perpetually 
repeating different words at the same 
time; k and it may be inferred, from 
Bernard's directions respecting psalm- 
ody, that the latter was very much pro- 
tracted; the metre and close of the 
verse not sounded together or dismiss- 
ed together ; and the note held too long 
or too soon left off; that some began 
before others, went on too fast, or lag- 
ged behind ; or kept the note too long ; 
and that another's part was taken up 

a Festa visitationis B. Marise, &c. observanda. 
MS. Aslim. ut supr. 24. a. usibus ssecularibus 
omnino spretis, f. 35. defectu orologii ; f. 81. a. 

b Negligunt et omittunt fundatorum aliorum 
atque benefactorum suorum animas. MS. Harl. 
328. f. 2. 

c Non licet alicui de conventu, qui horis et 
missis his interesse tenetur ab eisdem quomodoli- 
bet absentare. Ibid. But see on the contrary, M. 
Paris, 1140. 

d Reyn. App. 195. 

c Sunt et alii qui missarum solempnia vix cele- 
brant quat. in anno. MS. Bibl. Reg. 8. F. ix. 

* Wilk. Concil. ii. 245. 

s C. G. North, a 1444. C. 2. sect. De Divin. 
Offic. Monast. i. 951. In loco benedictionis con- 
fidentes sacerdotes nullus debet in discretis vocibus 
perstrepere aut quibuslibet tumultibus perturbare. 
Nullus etiam fabulis vanis vel agresti risu, (risibus, 
MS.) vel quod est deterius obstinatis disceptacioni- 
bus tumultuosas voces effundere. MS. Bibl. Reg. 
ut sup. 

h C. G. North, a 1444. C. 2. 

1 Du Cange, v. Evigilans stultwm. 

k Mason's Essay on Cathedral Music. 



before he had done, instead of begin- 
ning when and where he stopped. 1 

The service among the Nuns was 
performed by the Confessor and Chap- 
lains. 111 Their singing, among such or- 
ders as did sing, was exquisite. 11 The 
Nuns of Sempringham indirectly psalm- 
odized;° those who did so stood in one 
choir, and the rest in another. They 
began at the direction of the Prioress, 
and no one did this duty who had not 
been previously exercised in the Refec- 
tory and Chapter. An old Nun stood 
at the further end of the Choir, to see 
that they did not behave amiss. No 
Nun in summer, after thirds, when the 
priest was robed, was to leave the 
Church. The Nun, who had the care 
of the Collect, and could do nothing 
else, did not minister at the drinkings 
after Nones, but a junior served in- 
stead. In Lent they sung Vespers in 
the place where they worked, as also 
Nones, after Holyrood-day, and Ves- 
pers in summer. Nuns who could not 
read or perform divine service, worked 
at reading time, although they knew 
the psalter ; notwithstanding which, 
they prayed when the others did. All 
could stand or sit at the lessons of the 
Mass. If they did not come to prayer 
before prime in summer, and thirds in 
winter, on working-days, they were to 
confess it in Chapter ; and if they ex- 
ceeded the first glory of the hour, on 
private days, they were to solicit par- 
don on the ground. If any Nun, ex- 
cept those who ate after Nones, did 
not rise in the summer, after the first 
bell of Nones, she was to confess it 



1 C. G. North, ubi supr. 

m Monast. L 498. 924. 

n Vocibus altisonis adeo modulamine dulci 
Cantant, syrenes quod cecinisse putes. 

Spec. Stult. MS. Cott. Tit. A. 20. 

Besides this humming, if it so meant, (perhaps 
chanting, or half- singing, which I rather think is 
the meaning of indirecte psallere,) there was in the 
ritual cum nota, et sine nota. The cum nota is 
plain enough ; and it seems the sine nota meant 
celebrating in a low voice, gradually, distinctly, and 
openly. " Similiter etiam caetera omnia quse sine 
nota in conventu sunt agenda voce mediocri, trac- 
tim, distincte, et aperte. MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. 
f. 241. a. 



CHURCH. 



211 



the day after in the Chapter. The lay- 
Nuns stood in their stalls at the Masses 
and Gratias* only. The Nuns, who 
had misericords of sleeping, were di- 
vided into two choirs, of which one 
slept one night, the second the other. 
If there were two or one, they slept in 
the Infirmary . b 

Davies says, " Every Sunday a ser- 
mon was preached in the Galiley from 
one to three in the afternoon ; previous 
to which, at twelve, the great bell of 
the Galiley tolled three quarters of an 
hour, and rung the fourth quarter till 
one o'clock, that the people might have 
warning to come and hear the word of 
God preached." The Friars also 
preached there, c and there were ser- 
mons on saints' days, and other solem- 
nities^ Some of these sermons were 
very strange and ridiculous, as the fol- 
lowing extracts will show : " A lark is 
a bird which sings a song proceeding 
from recollection of the benefits of God. 
For the lark, when she begins to mount, 
lightly sings Deum, Deum, Deum; when 
she comes a little higher, she sings many I 
times Deum, many times Deum: when 
she comes highest of all, she sings en- j 
tirely Deum. Thus does the pious soul 
from gratitude." e Similar instances 
are before given of the nightingale. In 
another it is said, that in these two 
things, the election of a Monk, and i 
keeping his rule, the whole of Monas- j 



a The meaning of this word may be got at from 
the following passage. Et tarn post prandium quam 
post coenam seu collationem, adeant ecclesiam gra- 
tias reddendo ; tempore estivali, post prandium, 
dictis gratiis dormiant more aliorum religiosorum. 
These are hospital statutes from Monast. ii. 370 ; 
and gratia, of course are thanks rendered in the 
church after meals, by the lay-sisters. See too 
the Brigettine rule, and Ch. lx. 

b Monast. ii. 763, 4. 

c For sixpence a sermon. Warton's Hist. Engl. 
Poetry, ii. 106. 

d As by the Prior. Gold. Leg. f. clxxxix. 

e Avis est alauda, quse cantat canticum, quae 
procedit ex recordacione beneficiorum Dei. Alauda 
enim quum incipit ascendere,leviter cantareDeum, 
Deum, Deum. Quum venit parum altius cantat 
plu. Deum, plu. Deum. Quum venit in summo 
cantat tot. Deum, tot. Deum. Sic auima saneta 
quse cogitat beneficia, &c. MS. Harl. 1750, f. 
118, a. 



tic discipline consists ; and is like a 
great joint in a small dish. They were 
also enlivened with stories and curious 
metaphors. " Moreover/' it says, 
i( how wholesome is the obligation of 
profession, you may by a short story 
learn. A father had a sick son, who 
could not be cured without the knife 
and cautery. The father asks the lad, 
whether he would wish to be bound ? 
Anxious for his health, he replies, that 
he has no objection to be bound and 
burned. Accordingly he is so ; but no 
sooner does he feel the knife and file, 
than he storms, rages, and begs to be 
loosed ; but no, says the father, not till 
you are healed. In the same manner 
acts the Monk, who has willingly and 
knowingly taken the vows/ 5 One of 
their metaphors was this : " You have 
seen a man carrying a lighted candle 
in the open air, and guarding it with 
his hands lest it should be blown out." 
The Monk's soul was the candle, his 
body the part illuminated; the three 
winds liable to blow it out were the 
world, the flesh, and the devil ; the two 
hands that held the light were alms 
and fasting/ A sermon for the Nuns, 
upon flowers emitting odour, like the 
lily^ is a string of allegorical puns. 
Another, in the manner of the old 
black-letter story of the " Abbaye of 
the Holy Ghost," originally in Latin 
by the famous B. Alcock, says, " the 
first girl is Chastity, the second Humi- 
lity, the third is Mercy, and she is cel- 



f In his duobus summa totius monasticee reli- 
gionis disciplinae regularis est, tamque grande fer~ 
culum in vase brevi. MS. Harl. 1712. f. 22. 
Porro qua? salubris est professions obligatio brevi 
exemplo perpendere potestis : Pater filium habet 
segrotum qui sanari non potest absque incisione et 
cauterio. Pater consulit filium utrum ligari velit. 
Hie sanitatem desiderans rogat se ligari ac uri. 
Ligatur, autem cum ferrum et ignem incipit sen- 
tire, clamat, furit, solvi se deposcit, sed a patre 
non solvitur, donee sanetur. In hunc modum 
monachus qui se regulari disciplinae sponte et 
scienter obligavit, &c. Id. — Vidisti quempiam sub 
dio ambulantem ceream faculam succensam feren- 
tum in manibus utque manu circuinposita custodit 
earn, ne vi ventorum extinguatur, et si quando 
aduritur ustionem sustinet patienter. Id. f. 24. 

e Eccles. c. 39. MS. Harl. 52. f. 128. 

p 2 



212 CHURCH. 

Wess, which provides meat and drink; j has the following climax: "And this is 
the fourth is Modesty, and she is mis- | great, greater, greatest ; great, to abjure 
tress of the novices ; the fifth is the j and scorn the world ; yr eater, to re- 
infirmaress, and she is Patience ; the j joice in tribulation ; greatest, to pant 
sixth is Obedience." A third discourse | sweetly after God/' a 



a Prima puella est Castitas ; secnnda puella est Humilitas ; tertia puella est Misericordia, et est 
celleraria, quae cibum et potum procurat ; quarta puella est Verecuudia, qua? est magistra discipline ; 
quinta puella est magistra infirmarum, et est Paciencia ; sexta, Obedientia, &c. MS. Harl. 1750, 
f. 91. — Et hose est magna, major, maxima, magna sc. mundum abjiciendo, et contemnendo ; major 
in tribulacione gaudendo ; maxima Deo dulcissime inbiando. Id. 93. b. 



, 



CHURCH-YARD. 



213 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



CHURCH-YARD. 



The Church-yard was called Polyan- 
drium,a and no large Cemetery was 
anciently made without an Altar to St. 
Michael, who, in every Mass for the 
dead, was named Signifer, for the Re- 
surrection. 13 The ceremonial of bu- 
rials was as follows : By the institutes 
of Dunstan, the body was washed and 
clothed in a clean hood, boots, and 
cowl (and, if a Priest, a stole), and car- 
ried to the Church, all singing psalms, 
and the bell ringing ; and, if he died 
in the night, or early in the morning, 
he was buried (if possible) after Mass 
before dinner ; but, if they could not 
attend without intermission to psalm- 
singing, the body was interred imme- 
diately. The Norman decretals add to 
this, a cross at the head of the corpse 
before burial, and a burning light at 
the head and feet, constant watching, 
and psalmody, unless when the Con- 
vent was at Church ; religious services 
for him ; silence in the Cloister as 
long as he was unburied ; the corpse 
censed by the Deacon ; absolution of 
the deceased by the Abbot after a ser- 
mon in the Chapter ; a variety of duties 
postponed and altered on account of 
the burial ; procession to the grave, 
with tapers and holy water, with which 
both the corpse and grave were 
sprinkled ; pall (or bed) extended over 
the grave ; c burial by persons descend- 
ing into it ; a written absolution laid 
upon his breast, and buried with him. 



a And Carnarium, &c. &c. See Du Cange. 
b Gough's Sepulchr. Monum. Intr. ii. ccxxxvi. 
c A veil concealed corpses from the Pontifex 
Maximus. 



As soon as this was over, the lights 
were extinguished, and the bells 
silent. Other ceremonials, besides 
similar devotions, mention unction of 
the corpse, upon a stone in the Infir- 
mary for that purpose ; and, with re- 
spect to Abbots at least, a public ex- 
hibition of the corpse in the Church/ 1 
Davies adds, a chalice of wax was 
placed on the breast, e and with re- 
spect to superiors, perhaps of silver 
or other metal. It seems that the 
Abbot and others were used to convert 
to private uses the goods, money, and 
other articles, belonging to deceased 
brethren. f 

After the burial, a Monk was sent 
with the brevet or notice of his 
death, to other houses, and when it 
was entered in their obituary, he took 
a copy of the entry, which was 
called Titulus, and brought it back 
with him. h 

In the thirteenth century, Reginald 
de Homme, Abbot of Gloucester, made 
the following ordination for the obits 
of the Monks : 



d M. Paris, 1063. Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, 
p. 244. For more prolix information, I refer the 
reader to the authors I have cited, and to MSS. 
Cott. Claud. B. vi. and Bodl. Barlow, 7.; MSS. in 
then* respective walks of information, I have found 
unique. For Nuns, v. Monast. ii. 779, 80. 

e This was borrowed from the heathen custom 
of depositing sacred utensils in Sepulchres (Vetusta 
Monumenta, iv. p. 3) ; and the construction of 
xoax, from ancient Gaulish drinking vessels of that 
material. 

f C. G. Northampt. anno 1444. St. 10. de 
Prselatis. 

s The form of the Brevia of the obits of Monks, 
see in Du Cange, v. Precatovhon. 

h Desiderata Curiosa, 242. 



214 



CHURCH-YARD, 



Statutum est ordinacione et volun- 
tate dompni Reginaldi AbV assensu, 
et peticione totius conventus, ut cum 
aliquis frater profess 5 ab hac vita mi- 
graverit, statim scribantur brevia pro 
dicto fratre absque familiaribus, et 
tradantur Eleemosynario intrinseco, 
qui per suos ad hoc idoneos ad omnes 
prioratus nostros ceterasque domos 
vicinas cujuscunque relig* et precipue 
ad illas ubi sunt inter nos certee con- 
venciones, omni dilatione remota, 
faciet deportari. Et quum hujus- 
modi negotium sine expens* fieri non 
poterit, festinanter ordinatum est, ut 
obedientiarii subscript^ qui pro tem- 
pore fuerint quand' parvam inter se 
faciant contributionem sicud inferius 
potes videre. Celerarius xiid. Ele- 
mosynar' xiid. Camerarius vid. Sa- 
crista vid. Sub-elemosynarius vid. 
Precentor Hid. Infirmarius iii^. ; et 
sic ista parva summa pecuniae soluta 
absque ulla excusacione vel dilatione 
illo die quo frater defunctus traditus 
fuerit sepulturae : quod si aliquis de 
predictis obedientiariis, quod absit, a 
solucione predicta se aliquo modo vo- 
luerit excusare, quum ad diem redda- 
tur statutum porcionem suam dupli- 
cabite Et ad hoc faciendum per 
cap'lum compellatur. Ista predicta 
pecunia Sub-Elemosynario tradatur, 
qui hujus modi negotium no^e con- 
ventus procurator erit et exsecutor. a 

The allowance of the deceased was 
also given for a year following to a 
pauper ; b and, as an Abbot had his 
annate, so a Monk had his tritennale, 
or thirty days Mass afterwards \ c 

a Vitse Abbatum S. Petr. de Gloucestria, MS. 
Queen's Coll. Libr. Oxon. 

b Monast. i. 149. thirty days, Deer. Lanfr. 

c Monast. ubi supr. A curious circumstance is 
connected with the institution of the Trental. It 
is well known, that among the Heathen Northern 
Nations, the Bards celebrated the funeral exequies 
by eulogistic songs of the deceased, over his bar- 
row (see Ossian). The Irish Howl was derived 
from this practice, being, says General de Val- 
lancey (Collect. Reb. Hibern. No. ix. p. 579), 
a panegyrick of the deceased, in order to make 
the hearers sensible of their loss. These and 
other superstitious practices at funerals, were con- 
tinued long after Christianity, and, from their ori- 
gin, were denominated Bardicatio. Gregory the 
Great, therefore, substituted the Trental (Du 



It is resolved by the ordination and 
will of our Lord Abbot, and the peti- 
tion of the whole Convent, that when 
any professed brother died, the brevia 
shall be immediately written and de- 
livered to the interior Almoner, who, 
by means of proper persons, shall 
directly transmit the same to all our 
Priories, and neighbouring religious 
houses, of whatsoever order ; and 
especially to those with whom we are 
connected by charters of confedera- 
tion. And since this cannot be done 
without expense, it is resolved, that 
the undersigned Obedientiaries shall 
make a small contribution ; viz. the 
Cellarer and Almoner ] 2d. each ; the 
Chamberlain, Sacrist, and Sub-almoner 
6d. each ; the Precentor and Infirmarer 
Sd. ; which money shall, without any 
excuse or delay, be paid upon the day 
of such Monk's burial, under penalty 
of forfeiting twice the sum, payment 
of which shall be enforced by the 
Chapter. This money shall be paid 
to the Sub- Almoner, who shall ma- 
nage the business. 



which trental, or part of it, was the 
ceremony with which, perhaps, from 
the utter silence of all others, Davies 
has confounded the Monks, "being 
used to go after dinner through the 
Cloisters into the centry garth, where 
they all stood bareheaded a good 
space, praying among the tombs for 
the souls of their brethren buried 
there/'. The visitation of the grave d 

Cange, v. Bardicatio, Tricenarium). If the tune 
be uniform in these howls, it is probably a part at 
least of the Celtick musick on the occasion, used 
by the old Bards ; for in all other respects there is 
a coincidence. There is a curious account of Tren- 
tals in the Golden Legend, f. cci. b. 

d Peter Diaconus, in the Chronicle of Casino, 
says, " Singing psalms let them go to the Cemetery, 
and there praying, afterwards dissolve the Chapter 
according to custom." Du Cange, v. Oratio. 



CHURCH-YARD. 



215 



for thirty days, it says, shall he con- 
stantly made in this form. After 
morning Mass, the celebrating Priest, 
having put off the chesible, and re- 
taining the stole and maniple, shall be- 
gin the Miserere or Gloria Patri. 
Standing before the Crucifix there in 
the vestiary, the Deacon being with 
the cross on the right, and the aquee- 
bajulus on the left, he shall add this 
antiphonar. After this, the priest, 
kneeling before the Altar with con- 
summate devotion, shall say [certain 
prayers], and the rest kneeling like- 
wise shall answer [suitably]. After 
this is thrice done, they shall proceed 
to the grave singing verba mea; and 
when arrived there, the Priest shall 
sprinkle the grave. After the psalms 
[absolution, prayer for all faithful per- 
sons deceased, and others, they re- 
turned to the Church] . However, on 
the thirtieth day after the Chapter, 
when the verba mea, or dirige, is said, 
the Prior, or his Vicar, in the amess, 



stole, and robe, shall enter the Choir 
with the cross, tapers, censer, and holy 
water, (the attendants not being 
robed,) and standing before the steps, 
with the Convent around him, begin 
the Miserere,* 



a Visitatio tumuli per triginta dies continue fiat 
hoc modo. Post missam matutinalem sacerdos qui 
earn celebraverit, exuta casula, stola et manipulo 
retentis, incipiat Miserere, sive Gloria Patri, (q. 
sine.) Et stans ante crucifixum ibi in vestiario, 
diacono cum cruce stante a dexteris etaquse-bajulo 
a sinistris, subjungat banc antiph', &c. Quafinita, 
sacerdos genuflectendo coram altari cum summa 
devocione dicat, &c. ceteri genuflectendo respon- 
deat, &c. boc ter fiat, deinde procedant ad tumu- 
lum cantantes verba mea. Quo cum perveniant, 
aspergat sacerdos tumulum. Finitis psalmis dicat, 
&c. In tricesimo ver6 die post capitulum dicto 
verba mea, vel dirige, pro tempore, Prior vel ejus 
Vicarius indutus amictu, stola, et capa, ingredia- 
turcborum cum cruce, cereis, thuribulo, et aquabe- 
nedicta, ministris non revestitis. Qui stans ante 
gradus, Conventu circumstante, incipiat Miserere. 
Et fiant omnia, &c. MS. Bodl. Barlow 7. 

Davies says tbe barber was the grave-digger, 
and had tbe bed held over the grave {velum in Mo- 
nast. ii. 779,) for his fee. 



216 



REFECTORY. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



REFECTORY. 



Refectory. This room, as described 
by Davies, was a large hall, wainscotted 
on the North and South sides ; and 
in the West and nether part, a long 
bench of stone, in mason work, from 
the cellar door to the pantry or cove 
door. It had a dresser in it. a Above 
the wainscot was a large picture of 
Christ, the Virgin Mary, and St. John; 
but in most places, or there perhaps, 
the Cross or Crucifixion^ Within the 
door on the left hand was an Almery, 
where stood the grace-cup, c out of 
which the Monks, after grace, every 
day drank round the table ; and ano- 
ther large one on the right, with 
smaller within, where stood the mazers, 
of which each Monk had his peculiar 
one, and an ewer and bason, which 
served the Sub-prior to wash his hands 
in at the table, of which he sat as 
chief.d At the West end was a loft 
above the cellar, ascended by stairs 
with an iron rail, where the Convent 
and Monks dined together, the Sub- 
prior sitting at the upper end of the 
table. At the South end of the high 
table, within a glass window-frame, 
was an iron desk, ascended by stone 
steps with an iron rail, where lay a 
bible; out of which one of the Novices 
read a part in Latin e during dinner, 

11 Du Cange, v. Directorium. 

b Festinent lotis manibus introire in Refecto- 
riurn, salutantes crucem, versis vultibus ad orien- 
tem [Let them hasten after they have washed their 
hands, to enter the Fratry, saluting the Cross, with 
their faces towards the East]. Reg. Fulgentii. 
MS. Bodl. Archiv. Seld. D. 52. See also Speed, 
411. sect. 4. 

c The classical cup, ayaQov %ai/u.ovos, handed 
round at the end of a feast. Plin. L. 28, c. 2. and 
not. Pintian. 

d This is plainly the ceremony of the digitis al- 
luded to in sect. Abbot. 

e The readers at the table were to give ear to the 
Prior, in case of error ; and if they did not under- 
stand his correction, they were to begin the verse 
again, even repeatedly, until they comprehended 
the Prior's meaning. Reg. Vict. Par. Du Cange, 
v. Esijrinire. 



the master of them, when he had done, 
ringing a silver bell, f hanging over his 
head, to call one of the Novices to 
come to the high table and say graced 
At the East end was a neat table, with 
a screen of wainscot over it, for the 
master of the Novices, the Elects, and 
Novices to dine and sup at. Two 
windows opened into the Refectory 
from the great kitchen, the one large 
for principal days, the other smaller 
for every day ; and through these the 
meat was served. u Over against the 
door, in the Cloister, was a Conduit or 
Lavatory » for the Monks to wash 
their hands and faces, k of a round 
form, covered with lead, and all of 
marble, excepting the outer wall, with- 
out which they might walk about the 
Laver. It had many spouts of brass, 
with twenty-four brazen cocks about 
it, and seven windows of stone work 
in it ; and above, a dovecoat covered 
with lead. Adjoining to the East side 
of the conduit door hung a bell 1 to 
call the Monks at eleven o'clock, to 
come and wash before dinner. 111 In 
the closets or almeries on each side of 



f The Skilla was the appellation of a small bell, 
often of very sweet sound, rung by a cord in the 
Dormitory and Infirmary to awaken the Monks, 
and struck in the Refectory by the Prior with a 
single blow when the dinner was finished. Du 
Cange, v. Skilla. 

s A small bell hung at the Abbot's table, by 
which he, or the presiding officer, signified the 
conclusion of the Lecture, or of the meal. Reg. 
Vict. Cistert. &c. Du Cange, v. Nola. 

h See too Du Cange, v. Damadarius. 

1 Water was often conveyed into a stone recep- 
tacle at the entrance, by subterraneous pipes, for 
washing the hands. Du Cange, v. Concavarium. 

k At the striking of the Cymbalum, a small bell 
hung in the Cloister, the Monks went in proces- 
sion, if they were at Church, to the Lavatory first 
to' wash their hands. Reg. Ord. Victor. Id. v. 
Lavatorium Cymbalum. 

1 Struck with a hammer, not a clapper. Ibid, 
v. Timpanum. 

m At other places was, besides, a small stone ba- 
son on the side of the fratry door. 



REFECTORY. 



217 



the Frater-house door in the Cloisters, 
towels were kept white and clean to 
dry their hands upon.a At St. Alban's 
was an ascent of fifteen steps to the 
Abbot's tabled to which the Monks c 
brought up the service in plate,d and, 
staying at every fifth step, which was 
a landing-place, they sung a short 
hymn. e After the Monks had waited 
awhile on the Abbot, they sat down at 
two other tables, placed at the sides of 
the hall, and had their service brought 
in by the Novices, who, when the 
Monks had dined, sat down to their 
own dinner/ Fires were ordered from 
All-hallows day to Good Friday,? and 
the wood was found by the Cellarer. 11 

Pinnafores, or Super- tunicks, to 
protect the cloaths at dinner, are men- 
tioned by Lyndwood, and occur in 
foreign consuetudinals. 1 

Giraldus Cambrensis, k on dining 
with the Prior of Canterbury, noted 
sixteen dishes besides intermeals ; l a 
superfluous use of signs ; much send- 

a Changed every Friday. Du Cange, v. Manu- 
tergia, Manutergiolum. 

b Who only dined there on great days : the Ab- 
bess of Barking five times in the year. Monast. 
i. 83. 

c Elsewhere the Novices. Reyn. Append. 143, 

d Trays and waiters for the cups to stand on 
occur (Du Cange, v. Musta, Tdbularius). A cup- 
board of plate. Id. v. TrisoHum. See Angl. Sacr. 
i. 60. 

e Certain Psalms, called P salmi Refectionum, 
were sung, both at laying and removing the table, 
and adapted to praising God for the food, &c. 
These were sung on Sundays and Holidays, anti- 
phonally or with Alleluia. Du Cange, v. Psalmi 
Refectionum. 

£ British Topography, ii. 462. 

e MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 22 b. 

h Monast. i. 149. 

1 Lyndw. 124. Da Cange, v. Mantellum, Men- 
sale. 

k Angl. Sacr. ii. 480. 

1 " There are certain times and days in which 
the Convent of Peterborough, and other Monks, 
were used to eat twice in the day ; from Holyrood 
day to October 1 ; and from October 1, every 12th 
day, till Advent, and every day within the octaves 
of St. Martin ; and from Christmas-day till the oc- 
taves of the Epiphany ; and from them, every 12th 
day, till Quinquagesima ; in all which on days of 
robes, dnring the above times, the Convent was 
used to have one meal at supper with cheese. But, 
on other days, viz. the 12th, a certain intermeal of 
sixteen dishes, cum servientiuus ; all which, on ac- 
count of the alms, the same Abbot enjoined, that 
what used to be brought up at supper should be so 
at dinner." Swapham, 111. 



ing of dishes from the Prior to the at- 
tending Monks, and from them to the 
lower tables, with much ridiculous 
gesticulation in returning thanks, 111 and 
much whispering, loose, idle, and 
licentious discourse; 11 herbs brought 
in, but not tasted ; ° numerous kinds 
of fish, roasted, boiled, stuffed, fried ; 
eggs ; dishes exquisitely cooked p with 
spices ; <i salt meats to provoke appe- 
tite ; wines of various kinds, 1 ' piment, 
claret, mead, and others. s Respecting 
these, Bernard says, it was not unusual 



111 Anciently, when the Abbot dined with the 
Monks, they used to take the cups with reverence 
and silence, and did not say, as was afterwards the 
custom, " Pardon." Du Cange, v. Ignosce. 

n Monks were to dine without detraction, laugh- 
ter, secular stories, and gossiping. Athon. 150. 
As the Monks complained of the hardship of con- 
tinual silence at dinner, it was resolved, that after 
the reading was over, which the presiding officer 
finished at discretion, they might talk in a low 
voice. Reyn. Append. 102. But it seems, on 
account of this liberty they had at certain times of 
talking English, they became so loquacious, that 
it was one reason why the statute was made, that 
on all public occasions they should speak only Latin 
or French. C. G. Northampt. a 1444. C. vii. 
As to presents, Acharius, Abbot of Peterborough, 
" every day sent his own wassal bread into the 
Refectory." Hist. Coenob. Burgens. 107. One of 
the Priors of Durham used to send wine into the 
Fratry. In the Decret. Wolsey, for August. Ca- 
nons, " No layman was to attend upon the Canons, 
nor any one to send out any kind of meat or drink 
without leave." Monast. ii. 668. See Almonry. 
The distinction of dishes is thus alluded to : " Also 
we forbid singularity in the Refectory ; and, if any 
thing be placed before a claustral and obedientiary, 
besides what suits the Convent, let it be put before 
the President, to be disposed of by him as he 
chuses." Item singularitatem in Refectorio prohi- 
bemus, et si alicui claustrali et obedientiario ali- 
quod fuit in Refectorio appositum prseterea quod 
Conventui convenit, apponatur illud prsesidenti, 
ab ipso pro voluntate sua precipiendum. MS. Cott. 
Jul. D. ii. 161, b. 

Perhaps sallads. Menotus says, " John the 
Baptist went into the Wilderness to eat sallads, 
but without oil.'' Sermones, fol. 64. Du Cange, v. 
Sallada. John is pretended to have been a Monk. 
Lopez. Epit. ii. 26. 

t 1 A plain good Monk is described as " not angry 
with the cooks, for he is not used to a splendid 
table." Non iratus cocis, lautioris enim mensae 
consuetudinem non habet. MS. Harl. 1712. 
f. 79, a. 

i Pipere. 

r The younger Monks mixed wine and water 
for the brethren, when the Cellarer rung the bell, 
for saying grace over the drink. Du Cange, v. 
Miscere. 

s MS. Cott. Tiber. B. 13. [printed in Angl. 
Sacr. ii. 480.] Piment was made of wine, honey, 
and spices. 



218 



REFECTORY, 



to see brought a vessel half full, to try 
the goodness and flavour of the wine, 
after proving which, the Monks de- 
cided in favour of the strongest. 9 - 
There were always superior dinners 
upon the feasts of the Apostles. b 

It seems that it was not lawful to 
eat the flesh of any animal nourished 
on the earth, because this had been 
cursed by God ; but this curse not ex- 
tending to the air and water, birds 
were permitted, as created of the same 
element as fish. c Hence the prohi- 
bition of quadrupeds.^ But, notwith- 
standing this, it was found both im- 
possible and impracticable for inland 
Monasteries to have fish enough/ and 
to eat flesh became unavoidable ; me- 
dical considerations and the augmen- 
tation of alms by this means, also in- 
terfered/ It was also placed on the 
table for visitor s.s However, to the 
great rule all their articles of food bore 
relation ; which were bread, beer, soup, 
beans for soup, all Lent ; oats for 
gruel Thursday and Saturday in that 
season ; flour for pottage every day in 
the same season ; fried dishes, wastels, 
or fine bread for dinner and supper 
on certain feasts ; flathos or cakes in 
Easter ; formictae, or fine flour cakes, 
in Advent, Christinas, against Lent, 
Easter, Pentecost, and certain feasts ; h 
fat things * were frequent with the 

a Videas ter vel quater in uno prandio semiplenum 
calicem reportari, quatinus diversis vinis magis odo- 
ratisque potatis, nee tarn haustus quam attractus 
celeri cognitione, vinum quod fortius est eligatur. 
MS. Mus. Ashmol. 1285. f. 5, 6. 

b Angl. Sacr. i. 56. 

c Le Voeu de Jacob, 656, 658. 

d Though otters were eaten by the German Car- 
thusians, as not included in the prohibition of flesh. 
Gentleman's Recreation, p. 116. Ed. 8vo< 

e Fishponds, which flow into one another, 
so common in Monastick sites, were made on 
purpose to catch the fish, in the lower pools. Du 
Cange, v. Lapsus. 

f Reyn. Append. 143, 165, 168. 

e Ang. Sacr. ii. 309. 

11 Monast. i. 149. See Du Cange, v. Profioli. 

1 Pinguia concedens quae sunt affinia carni, 
Sic tamen ut nunquam sit manifesta caro. 
Spec. Stultor. 
These fat things, which resembled flesh, appear to 
have been hacon. Quia carnibus quidam monachi 
non vescuntur, de bacone turn grandi, turn grosso, 
quicquid pulchrum est, et pingue non devoratum 
nichil omnino relinquunt. MS. Cott. Tib. B. 13. 



Prsemonstratensians ; black beans and 
salt with the Clugniacs ; k general bad 
fare with the Cis tertians. 1 Drinking 
with both hands was a fashion peculiar 
to the Monks. m 

At Barking Nunnery, the annual 
store of provision consisted of malt, 
wheat, russeaulx (a kind of allowance 
of corn) in Lent, and to bake with eels 
on Sheer Thursday ; green pease for 
Lent; n green pease against Midsum- 
mer ; oxen by the year ; herrings for 
Advent ; red ones for Lent ; almonds, 
salt fish, salt salmones ; figs, raisins, 
ryce all for Lent; mustard; two-pence 
for crip sis (some crisp thing) and crum 
cakes [cruman is friare. Skinner. ] at 
Shrovetide ; mutton for the vicar ; 
wheat and milk for frimite on St. 
Alburg's day ; bacon-hogs twice in the 
winter ; vi Grecis (fat Jun.) vi sowcys, 
vi inwards ; bread, pepper, saffron for 
the same ; three gallons good ale for 
besons (besoins, Fr.), mary-bones to 



Thus too an allowance for anniversaries was 
beer. [British beer, i. e. Welsh ale, a kind of su- 
perior quality. See Toulmin's Taunton, p. 25. (Of 
brewing without hops, Horda Angelcynnan, iii. 73.) 
M. Paris says the conventual beer was much im- 
proved by a mixture of oats, of which husbandry 
Mr. Smith says, " Much of wheat, barley, and oats 
was yearly made into malt, an husbandry almost 
lost in this age" (about 1600). Lives of the Berke- 
ley Family. MS. 266. Oat ale was poor stuff : 

What though he quaffe pure amber in his bowle 
Of March-brew'd wheat, yet sleeks my thirsting 

soul 
With palish oat frothing in Boston clay. 

Hall's Sat. B. v. Sat. ii.] 

Part sweetened with honey, meed, fat cows, wethers, 
gammon of bacon, cakes, pure bread. Monast. i. 
139. A grant in Mr. Rudder's Cirencester, p. 96, 
mentions the Convent's beer, and Chaplain's beer. 
Ourbeer, saysM. Paris, consists of barley and oats, 
p. 1074. Wheat was forbidden to be made into 
malt a 1315. Stowe, sub a . There is a regular 
history of malt liquor in the Archaeological Library, 
222, seq. 

k Esse niger monachus si velim forte Cluniaci 
Qua fabasque nigras cum sale ssepe dabunt 
Spec. Stultor. 

1 Sabbata rara colunt, male respondente coquina 
Est ibi virga frequens, atque diseta gravis. 

Ibid. 

m Du Cange, v. Scyphus. 

n "If one will have pease soone in the yeare fol- 
lowinge, such pease are to bee sowenne in the waine 
of the moone at St. Andro's tide before Christmas." 
Order and Government of a Nobleman's House, 
p. 373. 

Cruma, A. S. crumb. 



REFECTORY, 



219 



make white wortys for the Covent. At 
St. Andrew^s tyde a pittance a of fish 
for my lady and the Covent ; eight 
chickens for my lady abbess against 
Shrove tide; "bonnes for the Covent; 
and four gallons of milk for the same 
time ; fish for the Covent on every 
Sunday in Lent ; stubbe eels and shaft 
eels baked for Sheer Thursday ; b red 
wine on the same day and Easter 
evening; ale every week in Lent; eggs 
for all times except Lent ; half the 
quantity in Advent, or money instead, 
called Eysilver ; butter at feasts, pork, 
pigs sowse, geese, hens, pittance mut- 
ton three times per annum ; eggs for 
supper ; every lady two, and four for 
the doubles or higher officers ; bacon 
for the time before Christmas ; oat- 
meal. But, as this discussion is not 
a matter of much novelty, I shall end 
it, as far as concerns the Monks, with 
the bill of fare of one of their fish 
feasts : 

First Course. 

Elys in sorry, d 
Blamanger, 
Bakoun Herryng, 
Mulwyl tayles, e 
Lenge taylys, 
Jolly s of Samoun, 
Merlyng f Sope, 
Pyke, 

Grete Plays, 
Leche burry,s 
Crustade ryal. h 



a A Commons was given to each person upon a 
plate to each. A pittance was an allowance in 
one plate between two, and the administration of 
either was a distinct duty among certain officers, 
as well as the component materials. Du -Cange, v. 
Generate. 

b In 1247, mackerel were allowed to certain re- 
ligious on the third day of the Rogations. Du 
Cange, v. Mequerellus. 

c Monast. i.83. 

d Were eels and parsley boiled in water, to 
which were added wine, spidery, sage, grated 
bread, brothe of the eel, ginger. MS. Bodl. 
Hearne, 197. 

e Melwell is asellus, a cod. Collection of obso- 
lete words. MS. penes me. 

f Whiting. Skinner. 

& Leche is yelatina, jelly in obsolete words. 

h Crustade (singly), chekyns, pejons, small brid- 
des in a brothe, with poudur of pepur, clowes, ver- 
jouse, saffron, make coffyns (pies) with rasynges of 



Second Course. 

Mammenye,* 

Crem of Alemaundys, k 

Codlyng, 

Haddock, 

Fresh hake, 1 

Solys y sope, 

Gurnedd broylid with a sy- 
ruppe, m 

Brem de mere, 

Roche, 

Perche, 

Memise fryedd, n 

Urchouns, 

Elys y rostydd, 

Leche Lumbarde, 

Grete crabbys, 

A cold bakemeate.P 
It seems, that in certain solemnities, 
the Convent was in the habit of re- 
tiring with the Abbot, leaving a few 
in the Refectory, in order to eat meat 
elsewhere ; 9 and that they frequently 
dined in apartments, r where they used 
to bring women to talk, eat, and drink 
with them. s On the feasts of the de- 
dications of the churches of the order, 
they used to eat and drink very intem- 
perately. l Sometimes money was 
given to them instead of viands, and 



corance, and ginger, and canell, and raw egges. 
Append. Ordin. Royal Household. 

1 Vernage wine, almonds, ginger, &c. boiled up 
in ale. MS. Harl. 279, p. 87. 

k A compound of them with thick milk, water, 
salt, and sugar. Id. p. 12. A favourite dish. See 
Gale's Scriptores, i. 498, 9. 

1 HaJcot is Lucius piscis. Obsolete words, ut 
sup. 

m Hyeca. Id. See Johnson and Steevens's 
Shakspeare, v. 390. 

a Parsley, ale, sause saffroned, &c. with pykes 
or others. MS. Bodl. ut sup. 

° Clarified honey, ale, grated bread, almonds, 
ginger, &c. MS. Bodl. supr. 

p MS. Harl. 279, p. 49 b. The Liber Viventium 
was a book in which the commons of the Monks 
were entered. Du Cange. The Meat was cut into 
commons for each Monk, by an officer called 
Particutarius ; Twickere of the Anglo-Saxons. 
Du Cange, in voce. 

i In Refectorio nullus omnino came vescatur, 
nee in quibusdam solempnitatibus, sicut aliquando 
fieri consuevit. Conventus exeat cum Abbate, pau- 
cis ibi relictis, ut extra refectorium carnes edant. 
MS. Bibl. Reg. 8, f. ix. See Misericords. 

r M. Par. 1098. 

s Reyn. Append. 166. 

1 Monast. ii. 752. 



220 



REFECTORY, 



the table/armed* Notwithstanding the 
canons, b and the furiousness of the 
Bishop of Lincoln against cups with 
circles or feet/ they had such cups/ 
as personal property, besides spoons 
and other gold or silver trinkets. e Se- 
culars used often to dine and sup with 
them/ and very often low people, s 
and they took advantage of meal times 
to receive the visits of women. h These 
too used to come after dinner; and 
the statute made to correct this abuse 
permitted them to come with license 
of the Abbot, or in his presence, and 
makes an exception with regard to 
noble women, as to season and time, 
as seemed fit to the superiors. 1 

It appears, that there was refresh- 
ment before dinner in the Refectory, k 
(for, after leave obtained, they could 
enter the Refectory at any time to 
drink, if thirsty) ; ] and that a statute 
was made, forbidding supper on any 
Friday in the year, except on a Christ- 
mas day. m Pure wine, or bread dipped 



a Procurari (perhaps it means obtained by Pro- 
curation, as the royal table.) C. G. North, a 1444. 
c. vii. See Const. B. 12. Kings had numerous pa- 
laces, in order by short residences not to burden the 
neighbourhood too much in the supply of provi- 
sions. Du Cange, v. Palatium. 

•> Athon. 149. 

c M. Paris, 705. The reason why these were 
forbidden is, according to M. Paris, p. 1098, because 
they were conceived too great distinctions for sim- 
ple Monks. 

d Sparke's Scriptores, 105. 

e Reyn. Append. 166. 

f Ne seecularis comedat cum conventu in Arma- 
ria, nee in refectorio, nee intersit suis collocacio- 
nibus, potacionibus, et recreationibus. MS. Mus. 
Ashmol. 1519, f. 14 b. 

e Ignobiles personse a prandio conventus penitus 
excludentur. MS. Cott. Jul. D. 2. f. 158 a. 

h Nullus et monachus habeat colloquium cum 
muliere cognata aut extranea, in temporibus inde- 
bitis, sicut prandii, et coense, et horae meridians, 
aut tempore potus assignati. Id. 159 a. 

1 M. Paris, 1096. 

k Monast. i. 296. See Misericords. 

1 Lyndw. 211. 

m C. G. North, ut sup. Erasmus says of the 
English, respecting Friday, "The common peo- 
ple during Lent, have a regular supper every alter- 
nate day. No one wonders at it. If any one sick 
of a fever wished for chicken broth, it would be 
worse than committing sacrilege. In Lent they 
have suppers without scruple ; but if you was to 
attempt it, out of Lent, upon a Friday, no one 
would bear it." Icthyophagia inter Colloq. 431. 



into it, were allowed upon occasions, 
and before eating ; also on account of 
labour to the brethren at certain 
times. 11 The drinking after Nones, or 
Biberes, as well as the noon-day re- 
freshment of sleep after dinner in 
summer, has been already mentioned. 

A late supper was made after col- 
lation, which the Monks called Con- 
solation 

The etiquette of dining was as fol- 
lows among the Gilbertines. The 
Prior, or a person appointed by him, 
rung the bell ; the Monks washed and 
wiped their hands, and entering the 
Fratry, and bowing to the high table, 
stood till the Prior came ; or, if he 
staid long, sat down. When he came, 
they rose to him, and he bowed before 
his seat, and rang the bell, which con- 
tinued while the 51st psalm was sing- 
ing. Then followed a short religious 
service by way of grace. The Prior 
then gave the benediction to the reader, 
and, at the end of the first verse,P 
they uncovered the food, the prior be- 
ginning. The soup was then delivered 
round by the servants, and two plates 
laid, one on the right, another on the 
left, and the pittances, if there were 
any, also carried round. No one wiped 
his knife with the cloth, unless he had 
first used his bread for this purpose. 
They took salt with their knives. 
What was wanting was required from 
the servant or cellarer, and when it 
was brought, both the bringer and 
receiver bowed. When the Prior sent 
any thing to another, he bowed to the 
messenger, and then rising, to that 
officer. If any fault was committed 
by a person dining or attending, he 
begged pardon before the step; and 
when the Prior made a noise with 
his knife, rose, bowed, and went to 
his place. When the plates and 



n Du Cange, v. Merus. 
, ° Ibid. 

v If a Monk came too late, after the 1st, 2nd, 
or 3d verse had been said, he was subject to a 
small venia, or penitence : and this was called 
Perdere versum, or losing the verse. Du Cange, 
v. Versus. 



REFECTORY, 



221 



spoons were moved, the Prior ordered 
the reading to conclude by a Tu autem, 
and the reply of Deo gratias ; the 
reader then bowed, the remaining 
food was covered ; the bell was rung ; 
the Monks rose ; a verse of a psalm 
was sung, and they bowed, and re- 
tired two and two, singing the Mise- 
rere. Delay in coming before the be- 
nediction was punished by a prayer 
before the step ; prostration on the 
floor; deprivation of wine or beer; for 
negligent servants, in regard to food 



and drink, beating. At the Refectory 
door of the Nuns sat a steady Nun, 
who entered with them when they 
went to drink; or some other in her 
stead, with respect to the application 
of persons who had been bled. After 
the refection of the Convent, the bell 
called the servants to dinner, and the 
Nun reader said the Jube Domine at 
their table before the benedictions 



a Monast. ii. 728, 767. 



222 



CHAPTER. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



CHAPTER. 



This room had three rows of stone 
benches one above another. a a reading 
desk and bench/* a place called the 
Judgment in the middle/ a seat for the 
Abbot higher than the others, d and a 
crucifix to remind them, during disci- 
plines^ that their sufferings were no- 
thing in comparison of those of Christ. e 
There were footstools on purpose for 
the Venice, by kneeling/ About nine 
of the clock in the morning, says Da- 
vies, and others seven/ the Monks 
seated themselves, and religious ser- 
vices commenced, which were followed 
by the sentence of the rule, read from 
the desk ; then the table was read (on 
certain days), and any person who had 
omitted an office prescribed to him so- 
licited mercy. This was succeeded by 
the commemoration of the dead, h which 

a Hutchinson's Durham, ii. 266. 

b W. Thorne, 1815. Chronol. Aug. Cant, a 
1386. 

c M.Paris (2d), 1045. 

d Id. 1040. Abbots of another house, if present, 
sat near the Abbot. Id. 1032. 

e Propterea dilectissimi in capitulis crucifixi 
imago ante oculos habetur, ut quicunque flagella 
subeunt quicquid tulerint pro nichilo ducant, pro 
nichilo reputent : recordantes crucis angustise, do- 
minicse passionis anxietatis. MS. Harl. 1712. f. 
137. b. 

f Du Cange, v. Salutem Mandare. 

e Econ. Monast. Life, p. 86. 

h There was the Martyr 'olo gy ', in which were re- 
gistered the names of those to whom the religious 
granted their letters of fraternity, and the Obituary, 
which contained the deaths of the Abbots, Priors, 
&c. Gutch's Coll. Curios, ii. 275, b. The Anno- 
tatio Regula was the description of the names of 
benefactors, the days of their death, and of the be- 
nefits received from them, placed at the end of the 
Rule ; viz. in the Necrology annexed to it, for it 
was usual after the Martyrology and Rule had been 
read in the Chapter, after Prime, to recite the 
names of benefactors, and all prayed for them. 
The Martyrology was, in later ages, taken for the 
Necrology, or Obituary and Rule, which were gene- 
rally in the same volume. The Martyrology was 
also called Liber Vitas. The custom obtained from 
the beginning of the sixth century. The Necrology 
was also called Regula, from being in the same 
book with the Rule : and all these were included 
in one volume, because the services in the Chapter 
were connected with each other, 1st, a portion of 



ended with "Requiescant in pace/' 
(may they rest in peace !) The reader 
then gave the book to the presiding 
officer, and he expounded the sentence 
of the rule. This finished, the Chantor 
read the brevia or obits of strange 
Monks, if any had been sent, which 
terminated as the commemoration of 
the deceased. The voluntary solicita- 
tions for pardon by persons who had 
been guilty of faults next followed ; 
after which began the accusation or cla- 
matio of offenders. The presiding of- 
ficer (which was unfixed) 1 was not to 
lose his temper, or " speake greate or 
harde wordes," k unless a by the ordi- 
nary observyng of humylite, the aucto- 
ritye of governinge [was] broken 
amongst them, which ought of duetie 
to be subjecte." 1 

The Rule of Victor says, whilst the 
accusation was made, no one was to 
speak except the accuser, the Abbot, 
and the accused. The first merely said, 
ee I accuse brother . ... of .... /' 
The other, as soon as he heard his 
name, made no answer from his seat, 
but coming before the Abbot, and first 
bowing, afterwards raising himself, 
stood still, patiently expecting what the 



the Rule, read every day to insure remembrance ; 
2d, the Necrology, for prayers for those admitted 
to fraternity ; 3d, the names of the dead and bene- 
factors, for commemoration of the days of their 
obits. Cardinal Bona says, that the custom pre- 
vailed in many Monasteries, of sending to each 
other mutually the names of their brothers, friends, 
and benefactors, to be entered in the Diptichs ; 
but when this custom had ceased, they were en- 
tered in the Necrology, selected from thence on the 
day of their decease, and a De Profundis, and suit- 
able prayers, said. Du Cange, in vocibus. 

1 W. Thorne, c. 35, sect. 4. 

k From the Rule of Basil, because he was not to 
fall into the sin he wished to deliver others from, 
and entertain the sentiments of a father and physi- 
cian. Dev. Vie Monast. i. 432. 

1 MS. Bodl. 3010. Nor was he to beg pardon if 
he did. Reg. August, and Const. Fratr. B. Marise 
de Mercede, &c. 4to. Rotas, 1630, p. 29. — Puppup, 
whence P ho, P ho, was the Anglo-Saxon term of 
contempt used by Aldhelm, Du Cange, v. Puppup. 



CHAPTER. 



223 



accuser had to alledge against him. 
The accuser, to avoid exaggeration, 
simply said, " He did so and so/" The 
other, if he knew himself guilty, imme- 
diately asked pardon, and confessed his 
fault. If not guilty, he said shortly, 
" Sir, I do not recollect to have said or 

done what brother affirms/' 

Upon this the accuser, bowing to the 
Abbot, did not repeat his charge, but 
went to his seat ; and if he knew that 
his charge was true, was allowed to ad- 
duce evidence. The accused was not 
permitted to recriminate upon the ac- 
cuser. — Similar forms occur in other 
orders. a 

A Monk reprimanded stood in the 
middle of the Chapter, and, after the 
definitive sentence was pronounced, he 
humbly bowed, and retired to his seat. b 
A person condemned to receive disci- 
pline c was beaten, according to the 
Norman institutes, with one single twig 
over his shirt, clothed and prostrate, or 
naked d sitting, with a rod, which, in 
later times, was called a balais, e and 
applied, according to Piers Plowman, 
to that part where its tingling sensa- 
tions are still frequently experienced. 
During the discipline (which could not 
be performed by the accuser/) the 



a Du Cange, v. Clamare. 

b M. Paris, 1031. 

c Disciplines consisted of rods of flexible twigs 
(Dec. Scriptores, 1190). Hugh Nonant, Bishop of 
Lincoln, not only flogged his back, but his mouth 
for lying, detraction, &c. when he was a private 
man (Angl. Sacr. ii. 333). In times of drought it 
was thought that no rain could be procured but by 
this process of flagellation, and then all ranks disci- 
plined themselves in person, or by proxy. Mem. 
de Petrarque, i. 236 ; and Don Quixote, ii. 284. 
Disciplines were thought to prevent the punishment 
of the fault in another world, on which account no 
reply was to be made to the reprover. Du Cange, 
v. Distringere. 

d The place where he was stripped for this pur- 
pose in the Chapter was called Spoliatorium. Du 
Cange. 

e M. Paris, T31. Gl. Watts and Tyrwh. to 
Chauc. 

f Quislibet sacerdotum abbatis prsecepto discipli- 
nam faciet in cap'lo excepto priore, vel eo qui loco 
prioris fuerit et clamante, i. e. Any one of the 
Priests may, by the Abbot's command, perform the 
disciplines, unless the Prior, or he who presided in- 
stead, claimed the privilege. MS. Cott Claud. B. 
vi. p. 186. It is most probable, from what M. Paris 
gays, p. 1045, that the^ disciplines were performed 



Monks hung down their heads, and re- 
garded the sufferer with pity. 

Du Cange mentions a hand-bell rung 
behind the delinquent by the brother 
who was to chastise him.s It termi- 
nated at the order of the presiding of- 
ficer, and was proportioned to the of- 
fence. In the statutes of the Order of 
St. Victor of Paris, it is said, the delin- 
quent shall kneel, and strip himself 
from his girdle, and so prostrate him- 
self, or shall only say, " it is my fault : 
I will correct myself." No one in the 
interim shall speak, unless one of the 
Priors intercedes for him with the Ab- 
bot. If the latter pardons him, such 
Prior shall assist him to put on his 
clothes, but he shall remain clothed 
and standing, till the Abbot bids him 
sit down, and then bowing, he shall go 
to his place. He could not be pu- 
nished by a person of inferior rank. 11 
The whole chapter concluded with a 
short religious service. 1 These were 
held daily in most Orders, but only 
once a week in others . k Latin or 
French was only to be spoken in it, 
and all public places, one reason of 
which was, besides that before alledged, 
to put an end to ignorance in those 
languages. 1 No person was allowed to 
enter the Cloyster, while the Chapter 
was held, on account of the secrets of 
it ; which besides were never to be re- 
vealed." 1 It seems that the presiding 
officers had frequent contentions in it ; n 
and the statutes insinuate, that the 
Monks used to grumble at the accusa- 
tions and sentences, which last they re- 
probated, to make frivolous appeals, 
and reproach one another after they 
had undergone sentence. Those were 



in a chair upon the place called the Judgement, in 
the middle. 

s v. Corrigiuncula. 

h Du Cange, v. Disciplina. 

1 Deer. Lanfr. Monast.ii. 722, 3. 

k Ordinamus, quod capitulum culparum sicut 
assuetum est semel in ebdoniada, ad minus cele- 
bretur. MS.Bodl. 1882. p. 63. 

1 See auct, cit. sup. 

m W. Thome, C. 1208. C. 2062. 

n Inbibemus districte tarn priori quam ceeteris 
prsesidentibus conventus contentiones in cap'lo ha- 
bere. MS. Mus. Ashmol. 1519, f. 35. a. 

C. G, North, a 1444, C. 3. M. Paris, 1096. 



224 



CHAPTER. 



especially rebellious who had powerful 
friends. a 



a Rebellious ob suam pertinaciam vel potenciam 
amicorum. MS. Roy. Libr. 8. f. ix. The Monks 
divided crimes into leves and graves (small and 
great), which are respectively defined in various 
rules, and to which their punishments were accord- 
ingly apportioned. To the former belonged car- 
rying the lantern publicity, though when out of 
penance privately it carried no shame with it. Mu- 
ratori Rer. Italic. Script, iv. 212. The lantern of 
penance was called the greater lantern, and not the 
one carried round the choir at night to awaken the 
drowsy. M. Paris, 1003. Sometimes an old sack 
was borne round the neck. Rastall's Southwell, 
145. Repetition of a psalm, kissing the feet of the 
brethren were others. Constit. Fratr. ut sup. p. 
77. Fasting (severest) bread and water, (slightest) 
bread, ale, and pulse. Lysons's Environs, i. 343. 
But the most common was prostration, and a con- 
tinuance in that position. Dev. Yie Mon. i. 473, 
5. Other punishments for light offences were, 
sitting alone upon a chair in the middle of the 
choir. Angl. Sacr. i. 739. Walking barefoot to 
the Cross. Gold. Leg. clxvi. Standing with the 
arms expanded in the form of a cross ; it is men- 
tioned in the Anglo-Saxon Canons ; and if a per- 
son could stand so, immoveable, while the Gospel, 
Lord's Prayer, &c. were recited, he was deemed 
innocent. Du Cange, v. Crttcis Judicium. The 
Disciplina condigna, was either fasting, or castiga- 
tion, imposed on those who neglected to learn 
the Creed and Lord's Prayer. Du Cange, v. Dis- 
ciplina. Fasting on bread, and drinking water de- 
filed by the excrement of a fowl. Marten, Anecdot. 
iv. 22. Repetition of psalms and being cuffed. Du 
Cange, x.Pcenitentia. — Penitentiary processions. A 
charter of the year 1240 says, They ought to be pre- 
sent at the procession with naked feet, only in their 
shirts and breeches, and holding rods in their 
hands, and to come before the Ebdomadary, and 
there on their bent knees be beaten by him for pe- 
nitence, sometimes walking with naked feet and 
shirt only. Du Cange, v. Processiones Publicce. 
Repetition of psalms only. Id. v. Pcenitentia 
Psalmorum. Silence. Id. v. Silentium. Sending 
to Coventry for theft, v. Sagus. Prostration upon 
the joints of the hands without motion, for small 
faults, as forgetfulness in the service, v. Fallacia. 
Separation from the table, and deprivation of the 
Abbot's Benediction, v. Mensa. In the lesser ex- 
communication, when the offender dined three 
hours later than the others, he lost his rank, per- 
formed no divine service, except with the others, 
and at a certain office prostrated himself, and lay 
there for a time. During dinner, he staid in the 
Church, and so continued till the Abbot sent a 
Prior to him, who made a sign to him to rise, upon 
which he went to that prelate, bowed, and went to 
his place. Dec. Lanfr. c. 17. 

For severer faults, after discipline, the Monk was 
committed into custody, and his keeper led him to 
and from Church, and secretly encpiired of the 
Abbot how he was to live, and when he was to eat. 
No one spoke or associated with him, and when the 
bell rung for divine service, he lay prostrate at the 
Church gate till the Convent passed, and when that 
was done, kneeled while the hour was singing, and 
bowed to every one who happened to pass. When 
the Convent left the Church, the prostration was 



The Chapter of the Nuns was simi- 
lar; 13 the second constitution of the 
Nuns of Sopewell orders, that there 
shall be only three voices in it, of the 
President (subprioress or other), mis- 
tress of the rule (challenger), and the 
person challenged. Their Chapter was 
strewed on Easter Sabbath. c 

They who wished to sit near the Ab- 
bot (among the Cistercians) in the 
Chapter, or all places except the 
Church, bowed to him profoundly from 
their places. d 

After the Chapter, some staid be- 
hind, or ought to have done so, to con- 
fess, which confession was to be short, 
and of a peculiar relation to certain 
faults. An old writer says, " After the 
saying of Sant Bernard, and other holy 

repeated, and the passing Monks said, " Lord have 
mercy upon you." He was then led back to his 
place ; received disciplines in the Chapter on stated 
days ; and at last, upon promise of amendment, 
and by the intercession of the Monks, was par- 
doned. A contumacious Monk was sent to the 
prison till he was humbled, and afterwards treated 
according to his fault. A fugitive Monk was not 
admitted into the house for some days, but staid in 
the hostrey, and was afterwards very severely dis- 
ciplined in the Chapter. Dec. Lanfr. Another 
penance was, " Dwelling at the gate for a long tyme, 
and living on a morsel of bread a day," and, " upon 
re- admission being enjoyned to do all the offyces 
that were most foulle.'' Gold. Leg. f. lxxxix. 
When a Monk was sent to another house for peni- 
tence sake (which Monks were those who were 
disturbers of the common peace, and the reason be- 
cause it was better that one should perish, than the 
whole society, Reyn. Append. 124), the Bishop or 
president of the general Chapter was to compel 
such house to receive him ; the term being expired, 
the Abbot was to recall him. Vestments, among 
which were bed things, were to be found by the 
Convent that sent him, food by the other ; but on 
this head there were opposite opinions. Lyndw. 
207, 8. By the constitution, however, of certain 
general Chapters, the receiving-house was to find 
him necessaries, to the amount of two-pence a day, 
unless there was any agreement to the contrary. 
Reyn. 161, &c. App. This dismission did nottake 
place but when the Monk's own house was negli- 
gent or dissolute. Lyndw. ut supr. 

An expelled Monk, according to the rule, could 
not be admitted after a third offence ; but Monastic 
expulsion was the imposition of perpetual penance, 
viz. exclusion from the common table, chapter, and 
dormitory, and imprisonment. Athon. 143. 

Correction, in the first place, belonged to the Ab- 
bot ; and, in defect of that, to the Bishop after- 
wards ; in some cases, the Monks might be held to 
answer to that prelate. Athon. 148. 

b Monast. ii. 765. 

c Id. 767. It does not appear with what, 

i Dtt Cange, v. Supplicare % 



CHAPTER, 



09 



doctours, when an) T man usyth to con- 
fesse dayle or ofte tymes he sholde nott 
make a longe confession, but shorte, 
of syche as his conscience is most 
grevyd wytb, and first of dydly sinnys, 
i. e. those that he is in dowt whether 
they be dedly or veniall, and secundly 
of suche venial syns in general, that 
cannot be expressyd specially as thes 
be ; ydell words ; vayne thoughts ; nec- 
ligence ; dulness in redyng or praying; 
losse of tyme ; and distraction of hart 
or wandryng mind in saying his service 
or other prayers ; unthankfulnes of the 
gudness of God; more besy for the 
body than nede ware ; lyght turbacions 
agaynst his neghbure ; lyght inchinge 
of other men ; lyght suspecion ; to be 
not content with all that God dothe ; 
and nott to use the grace and gyfte that 
God hath geffyn him ; with other suche 
that cannot be flede, and well for- 
borne ; of a feble and a weak sawle ; 
when it suffers suche agayns its wyll 
they are butt lyght venial ; neverlesse 
they wolde be confessyd in generall/' a 
Accordingly such sins were confessed 
in the following manner b among the 

» MS. Cott. Nero, A. m. f. 138, b. 

b Ordo confessionis quotidiance apud Cysterci- 
enses. Nostrat.es confitentur super genua coram 
Confessore. Queerit Confessor, Quid dicite ? Red- 
det, Meas culpas. Erigit eum confessor, di- 
cens, Surge in nomine Domini. Benedicite. Con- 
fitens, Dominus. Confessor, Deus sit nobis- 
cum. Confitens, Amen. Confiteor Deo, 8fc. quia 
peccavi nimis. Facta autem confessione, dicitpoe- 
nitens, De iis et aliis peccatis meis meum reatum 
confiteor ; veniam deprecor. Et oro ie patrem 
orare pro me. Confessor, Deo gratias. Miserea- 
tur tui omnipotens Deus. Dimittat tibi omnia pec- 
cata tua, et perducat te ad vitam ceternam. Amen. 
Indulgentiam et remissionem omnium peccatorum 
tuorum tribuat tibi omnipotens et misericors Deus. 
Amen. Dominus noster Jesus Christuste absolvat, 
ut ego auctoritate ipsius absolvo te a peccatis tuis. 
In nomine patris, etfilii, et spiritus sancti. Amen. 
Meritum passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, in- 
tercessio beatissimee Virginis Marice et omnium 
sanctorum, humilitas hujus confessionis, bonum, 
propositum quod habes, et mala quce pro Deo pa- 
cienter sustinebis, profuit tibi ad remissionem pec- 
catorum tuorum. Et si hcec modica venia non sit 
peccatis vestris condigna, passio Christi suppleat 
residuum.— Retribuat tibi Dominus vitam ceternam. 
MS. Harl. 2363. f. 7, b. Constitutions enact, that 
every Monk should confess at least once a week, 
and besides private confession of daily faults, twice 
or at least once a year to the Abbot. Quilibet etiain 
monachus ad minus semel omni ebdomada confite- 
atur, et prseter illas privatas confessiones de cotidi- 
anis delictis regulariter faciendis, bis vel semel in 



Cistertians : Our Monks, says the or- 
dinance, confess on their knees before 
the Confessor. The latter enquires, 
i( What do you say ? J ' the other replies, 
" My faults/' The Confessor raises 
him, saying, " Rise in the name of the 
Lord, Benedicite ;" the Monk returns 
" Dominus ;" the Confessor, " God be 
with us" the Monk, "Amen. I con- 
fess to God, that I have deeply sinned/' 
When the confession is made, the pe- 
nitent says, " Of these and all other my 
sins I confess myself guilty. 1 seek 
pardon, and beseech you, father, to 
pray for me." The Confessor returns, 
" Thanks to God ; the Lord have mercy 
on you, forgive you all your sins, and 
bring you to eternal life. Amen. The 
Almighty and merciful God grant you 
indulgence and remission of all your 
sins. Amen. Our Lord Jesus Christ 
absolve you, as I, by his authority, ab- 
solve you from your sins, in the name 
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
Amen. The merit of the passion of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the intercession of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the 
Saints, the humility of this confession, 
the good intentions which you have, 
and the evils which you will patiently 
endure for the sake of God, profit you 
to the remission of your sins. [For a 
special penance nevertheless.] And if 
this small pardon be not sufficient for 
your sins, the passion of Christ supply 
the residue." "It concluded with an 
interchangeable religious salutation* 
and " The Lord grant you eternal life, 
from the Confessor rising. Some con- 
stitutions enact, that no Monk should 
confess to any secular, or man of other 
order, unless on a journey, or unable to 
obtain the assistance of a Monk ; c 
notwithstanding which, other injunc- 
tions allow them what Confessor they 



anno saltern suo confiteatur prselato. MS. Cott. 
Claud. E. iv. f. 244. M. Paris says, that daily 
confession took place when necessary, besides the 
general monthly one, p. 1095, 1097, 1140. 

c Nullusque monachus sub nostra obediential 
constitutus confiteatur alicui seculari aut viro alte- 
rius religionis quin nostrse ; nisi in itinere consti- 
tutus vel monachi copiam nequeant obtinere. MS. 
Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 244. Thus too, Monast. i. 
147. 



226 



CHAPTER, 



liked, a whether regular or secular.^ 
The office of external Confessors the 
Monks found so profitable, that they 
obtained grants for five years, on pur- 
pose to exercise that function, from the 
papal see. c It seems, that the Monks 
confessed very reluctantly ; d and that 
it was a very difficult duty to young be- 
ginners. 6 It was a rule, that whatever 
guilt the Monks had contracted from 
the hour of Nones, it was to be con- 
fessed before Complin. Those also 
who had assembled to sing Prime, after 
it was over, and before the 50th Psalm 
[sung by the procession when retiring], 
used to say to each other, " I confess 
to the Lord and you, Brother, that I 
have sinned in thought and deed, 
wherefore I beg you to pray for me;" 



a Chronol. August. Cant. 

b Licentia ut eligere possitis confessorem ido- 
neum ssecularem vel regularem. MS. Mus. Ash- 
mol. 1519, f. 12, b. 

c Reyn. Append. 190. 

d " Valde abhorrebam confiteri peccata." MS. 
Cott. Calig. A. i. f. 221. 

e Joan. Solorzani de Indiar. Jure, 186. 



and he answered, " Almighty God hav e 
mercy upon you." f 

I shall end this account of the Chap- 
ter, with observing, that to be buried in 
it was an honour,s though the view was, 
for the Monks to retain a fresher me- 
mory of the deceased's services. 11 

In the Statutes of the Clugniacks, 
adjoining to the Chapter, were rooms 
called Trisantice 3 with seats on both 
sides, where the Monks were to retire 
after shaving and conclusion of the 
psalmody. Conversation was allowed, 
and they were to take a book, and cut 
their nails if necessary. After Complin 
and collation, some retired there from 
the Chapter, till the whole Convent 
had withdrawn. They who sat on one 
side of the Trisantia began one verse, 
those on the opposite replied. These 
Trisantice were places of rendezvous, 
especially connected with Chapter bu- 
siness. 1 



f Du Cange, v. Completa — Confessiones dare. 
s M. Paris, 1018, 104. h Monast. i. p. 456. 

1 Du Cange, v. Trisantia. 



DORMITORY. 



227 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



DORMITORY. 



" On the West side of the Cloyster/' 
says Davies, "was a large house, called 
the Dorter, where the Monks and No- 
vices lay. Every Monk had a little 
chamber to himself. Each chamber a 
had a window towards the Chapter, b 
and the partition betwixt every cham- 
ber was close wainscotted, and in each 
window was a desk to support their 
books." 

In the ancient Orders, at least some, 
the Abbot's bed was in the middle of 
the Dormitory, near the wall, and he 
made a sonnd to raise the brethren in 
the morning. The Prior's bed in the 
Dormitory, with a study and other 
apartments annexed. d " On the West 
side of the said Dorter were " [similar 
chambers, and on the South, those of 
the Novices, who had also one each, 
but neither so close nor so warm as the 
others were, and without any other light 
than what came in at the foreside.] 
" At each end of the Dorter was a 
square stone, in which was a dozen of 
cressets, wrought in each stone, being 
always filled and supplied by the cooks" 
[in order to afford light]. (i Adjoining 
to the West side of the Dormitory was 
the privy, with separate seats wains- 
cotted and partitioned, each lighted 
with a little window. The middle part 
of the Dormitory was paved with fine 
tile-stones, the whole length." At 
Ford Abbey in Devonshire, a Dormi- 



a The obedientiaries used to sell these chambers 
according to the goodness of them. C. G. North- 
ampt. a 1444. c. 3, sect. De Dormitorio. 

b Windows in the door ; and the latter to have 
no lock, are ordered. Ut in Dormitorio in singu- 
lorum cellae, sive camera; ostio parvulas fenestras 
fieri, &c. per quas procedentes fratrum laudabiles, 
nostri ordinis consuetudinem, introspicere libere 
queant, nullusque canonicorum in Dormitorio ja- 
cencium praesumat ostium camera? suse intro quovis 
ingenio firmare. MS. Ashm. 1519. 

c Du Cange, v. Dormitorium. 

d Angl. Sacr. i. 143. 



tory remains complete. It is a long 
narrow gallery, with lancet windows on 
both sides, one window to each apart- 
ment or partition, now removed. Se- 
veral constitutions enact, that the beds 
should not be curtained, that they 
should be without perticcef (patibula 
for hanging things on) ; that, among 
the Friars, they should not have coun- 
terpanes, sheets, or pillows/ and that 
they should not sleep naked ;S an in- 
junction which the Monks extended 
only to their shirts and breeches. h It 
was deemed injurious to sanctity for 
Monks to sleep with naked legs. i They 
too at least had blankets, k and besides 
common bed furniture of curtains of 
red, green, white, or a mixed colour, 1 
silk pillows (still to be seen in ancient 
beds), and coverlids with teasters. m The 
nuns of St. Clare were permitted to 
have sacks of hay or chaff, and a pillow 
of chaff or wool, if they could not 
have religious culcitrce n of wool. " The 
keys of the Dortour were carried to 
the Prefect or Vicar by the servitor be- 
longing thereto, and by him again at 



e Et ut omnis suspicio mala tollatur, lecti mona- 
chorum velaminibus et perticis, si qui fuerunt, 
amotis, ita sint ordinati, ut in ipsis lectis existentes, 
sine obstaculo quocunque die nocteque continue 
valeant a custodibus ordinis, et aliis transeuntibus 
intueri. MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 242, b. Non 
cortinatos. Cust. Roffens 235. 

f Super culcitrum non dormiant fratres. MS. 
Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 159, b. Item fratres saniin 
Dormitorio, culcitris, lintheaminibus, ac pulvinari- 
bus non utantur. MS. Bodl. 1882, p. 48, b. 

" s Ibid. A custom of Egyptian origin. Gruteri 
Spicileg. ii. 132. h Reyn. Append. 166. 

1 Du Cange, v. Pedana. 

k W. Thorne, c. 32, sect. 3. 

1 Reyn. Append. 195. 

m i pulvinar de serico, i coverlit cum tester. MS. 
Harl. 1005. f. 69, b. The bedsteads were of oak. 
M. Par. 1054. According to some rules, no one 
in the time of summer was allowed to sleep out of 
his bed, except the Prior ordered him to sleep in 
the open air, for custody of the area. Du Cange, 
v. Nuhilum. 

n Here it means a bed. 

q2 



228 



DORMITORY. 



the appointed time in the morning 
opened; then each Monk receiving 
their summons to rise/ had half an 
hour, or thereabouts, allowed them both 
in making up themselves and their 
beds. b 

In some Rules the meridians began 
on Palm Sunday, in others on the ides 
of May; and in some ended on the 
ides of September, in others on those of 
October. The order of St. Victor says, 
e{ In the summer, at mid-day, any one 
who chuses may read in the Dormi- 
tory, provided they do not make a 
noise in turning over the leaves. In 
that hour the brethren ought to lie in \ 
their cloaths ; and take care not to ex- j 
tend their feet outside the bed, or ap- 
pear naked in it. The meridians after 
Sext on fast-days were very short." c 

It seems that these meridians, or 
sleep at noon during summer, were neg- 
lected by the Monks, in order that they 
might attend to drinking or gossiping 
elsewhere ; d and that both they, the 
Nuns, and Friars spent almost half the 
night in similar indulgences both there 
and in other places ; so that they could 
scarcely be prevailed on to rise in the 
morning ; e that the Friars made great 

a In some rules certain Monks were deputed to 
wake the others to Matins, which office they took 
in weekly rotation ; and they were called Vigiliarii, 
or VigiH-Galli, from the wakefulness of cocks. Du 
Cange, v. Vigiliarii, 

* Steevens's Monast. ii. 121, of Oseney. The 
Friars might lie out of the house, for the conveni- 
ence of the guests. Extra domum etiam jacere po- 
terunt sicut fueriteis constitutum, ne hospites mo- 
lestentur. MS. Cott. Nero, A. xu. f. 159, b. 

c Du Cange, v. Meridiana. 

d Aliquos de Conventu extra Dormitorium pro 
potacionibus vel vanis confabulacionibus, sicut an- 
tiquitus solebant, notare, &c. MS. Cott. Claud. E. 
iv. f. 244, a. — Comestiones atque potationes in 
Dormitorio inhibemus. MS. AshmoL Mus. 1519. 

e Quidam contra commessationes superfluas et 
confabulationes illicitas, ut de aliis taceamus, fere 
medietatem noctis expendunt, et sompno residuum 
relinquentes, vix ad diurnum Conventum avium 
excitantur. MS. Bibl. Reg. 8, f. 9. " Fratres 
nolumus vosignorare de dormientibus, ut non con- 
tristemini sicut ethnici qui spem non habent." 
MS. Harl. 913, f. 11. Item quod morosse sessiones 
et famulationes post completorium, multa mala et 
perieula mittunt in religionem, precipimus, ut tem- 
pestive in quantum possent, cubent. MS. Cott. 
Jul. D. ii. f. 158, b. See also C. G. Northampt. 
a° 1444. ch. 2. Item post completorium ex quo 
signum Dormitorii factum fuerit, aliqiiis comedere 



noises in talking ; f that the Nuns made 
many useless signs/ as did the Monks, 
who went to the beds of the others to 
converse ; h did not rise to mattins ; 
and disturbed the quiet brethren * with 
singing or dancing till the hours of ten 
or eleven at night — an abuse thus al- 
luded to by Barclay : 

The frere or monke in his frocke and cowle, 
Must daunce in his dorter, leping to play thefoole. k 

It also appears that seculars slept 
there 1 as well as in nunneries, whose 
dormitories were not much used by the 
sisters. 111 They were all, except officers, 
to be in bed by eight o'clock. 11 Among 
the Premonstratensians they were not 
to get into bed upright; but sitting 
down, turn round. A prayer was said 
by the Senior Prior. The Dormitory 
was the place for dressing. The Rule 
of Victor says, of the Brethren going 
to work, "Let them ascend into the 
Dormitory, and there preparing them- 
selves put on woollen tunicks above, 
small subtalares, or shoes not higher 
than the ancles, gloves," &c.P 



non preesumat, nee alicubi in locutionibus remanere. 
MS. Cott. Nero, A. xu. f. 158, b. Nullus in Dor- 
mitorio prsesumat se a matutinis absentare. MS. 
Ashm. f. 33, et pass. 

1 Hortamur enim ut fratres assuescantur ubique 
religiose et sine clamore loqui, et maxime in dormi- 
torio. MS. Bodl. 1882, p. 47, b. 

s Monast. ii. 766. 

h Nullus etiam fratrum ad lectum alterius acce- 
dat ad confabulationem, vel signum aliquod facien- 
dum, nisi hii quibus ex officiis eorum incumbit. 
MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 242, b. 

1 Gunton's Peterborough, 55 ; and verbatim from 
him, Steevens's Monast. i. 485. 

k Ship of Fooles, 116, a. Ed. Cawood. This 
was uncandid. Fordun mentions dancing and 
singing till midnight (XV. Script. 6? 8). Aldhelm, 
when he returned from abroad, was received by 
the people with dancing (Angl. Sacr. i. 19) ; and 
always when Hugh Prior of Durham was at home, 
the poor of the town used to dance before him, 
and he ordered them refreshment in the kitchen 
(Id. i. 740). This could not have been, if crimi- 
nal ideas had been attached to dancing. However, 
Orderic Vitalis says, that the Dormitory, Infirmary, 
and other private places of Monasteries, were open 
to buffoons and prostitutes. Du Cange, v. Cron- 
tochium. 

. l Ne aliquis ssecularis de castero in dormitorio 
nocte requiescat. MS. Ashmol. Mus. 1519. f. 
123, a. m Monast. i. 910, ii. 895. 

n Ut cuncti sint in lectis ad horam octavam, ex- 
ceptis officiariis. MS. Ashmol. 1519, p. 15. 

Du Cange, v. Gambesa, Collocare. 

p Ibid. v. Mainfula. 



CLOISTER. 



229 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



CLOISTER. 



Several antient canons enacted, that 
cloisters a should be erected near the 
Church, where the clerks might attend 
to Ecclesiastical discipline ; b and con- 
finement to it originated in the gossip- 
ing practices of the antient Monks, 
which Benedict was determined to pre- 
vent. There was a green in the midst 
of it (sometimes called Paradise), i£ sig- 
nifying,''' says WiclifT, " the greenness 
of their virtues above others f and a 
tree in the middle, which implied i( the 
ladder, by which, in gradations of vir- 
tue, they aspired to celestial things/' d 
Its four sides had also particular desig- 
nations; the western side was appro- 
priated to the school; that which joined 
the Church to moral reading ; and the 
uses of the two others (for Du Cange's 
extract is imperfect) seem to be con- 
joined with the duties of the Church 
and Chapters The form was square, 
that the Monks might be secluded from 
intercourse with the world ; f and the 
idea of the building itself was taken 
from Solomon's Porch, erected near the 
temple. 5 Sometimes it had a fountain 
in the middle, and the doors were con- 
secrated with relicks. h 

Davies describes it as having a seat 
(fastened to the wall, four feet high, 
with a back of wood, and boarded un- 
der feet for warmth), on which sat the 



a There were antieutly Curies Claustrales, de- 
pendencies of Cloisters, residences of Canons. Ma- 
gasin Encyclopedique, vi. p. 3 95. 

b Le Vceu de Jacob, iv. 504, 5. 

c Dev. VieMon. ii. 14, 15. 

d Dialogi cxliii. 4to. 1525. For the tree, see 
also D'Emiliane's Monastical Orders, p. 170. 

e Du Cange in v. Claustrum, from Peter of Blois, 
who has "in ipsa ecclesia meditatio spiritualis" 
[omitted by Du Cange,] and " ad Orient em [Ori- 
entalem, Du Cange] in capitulo correctio [omit. 
Du Cange] materialis." 

f Dxx Cange. 

s Gemma Animse, cap. 148, De Claustro. Mr. 
Waiton says it was adorned with carols (texts or 
inscriptions). See Angl. Sacra, i. HO. 

b Du Cange, v. Atrium, 



porter ; and, on the same side, a long 
bench of stone for children at the 
Maundy, at the end of which were 
almeries, or closets, of pierced work, 
to admit air to the towels there kept, 
with which the Monks wiped their 
hands when they washed and went to 
dinner. The North alley, he says, was 
finely glazed, and in every window 
were three pews or carrels, in each 
of which was a desk, where every 
one of the old Monks had a carrel se- 
verally to himself, to which, after din- 
ner, they resorted, 1 and there studied 

I their books till even song ; and opposite 
to these, against the Church wall, were 
almeries full of books, at all times 
open to them. In the West alley was 
the treasury, in the midst of which was 
an iron grate, having a strong iron 
door of the same work, f * with a lock, 

, and great slots of iron ;" and within, a 
square table covered with green cloth, 
for telling their money . k Within this 

1 They could either study or sleep. Monast. 
I ii. 730. 

k Seals of a round form generally denoted, ac- 
I cording to Lewis and Blomfield, " something of 
! royalty in the possessor, or a more than ordinary 
i extent of temporal jurisdiction." Monasteries of 
', royal foundation had commonly round seals. 
: Bishops and superiors of houses had usually oval 
J seals. The former hold the pastoral staff in their 
left hands ; Abbots in their right. The earliest con- 
ventual seals commonly bore mere rude represen- 
tations of the patron saints ; the more recent were 
highly finished : the most common device being the 
superior praying to the patron saint above, From 
the reign of Edward the Confessor to that of Ed- 
ward III. that is, from A. D. 1041 to 1327, the 
Kings of England were represented on their broad 
seals, sitting upon thrones, but without canopies. 
From Edward III. down to the present time, they 
are seated under canopies. Previously to the time 
of Edward III. the convent seals represented the 
patron saints and abbots seated upon thrones ; but 
after this period they constantly exhibited these 
figures sitting or standing beneath canopies and 
arches. The patron saint subduing and treading upon 
the dragon being symbolical of his overcoming 
sin ; a star, the symbol of the Epiphany, and a 
crescent of the increase of the Gospel, are fre- 
quently introduced into the geals. Taylor's Inde.v, 
Monasticus, Pref. xsi. seq, 



230 



CLOISTER. 



treasury was kept the best muniments, ( 
the Chapter seal/ and evidences of 
several gentlemen^ s lands in the coun- 
try, in three great chests well locked. b 
Opposite to this, was a stall of wain- 
scot, where the Novices were taught; 
and their master had a seat of the same 
kind, upon the South side of the trea- I 
sury-house door, opposite to the stall, 
where the Novices studied. There' he | 
instructed them both forenoon and af- ' 
ternoon, no strangers or other persons 
being permitted to molest the Novices '■ 
or the Monks in their carrels/ while at j 
study in their Cloisters, a porter at- 
tending for that purpose at the Clois- 
ter-door. A little South of the trea- 1 



a See sect. Abbot. In general tbe custody of it '■ 
was ill observed. MS. Mus. Asbmol. 1519, f. 34. 
In the Cistertian and Praemonstratensian Orders 
it was in tbe custody of tbe Prior and four more 
eligible. Id. 50, a. Through the scarcity of no- j 
taries public, a constitution of Otto ordered Abbots 
and Priors, whose benefices were perpetual, to have 
a seal of their own, separate from that of the house, 
which Dr. Pegge is of opinion was not the case, 
except where heads of great and opulent founda- 
tions had indeed their own seals conformable to the 
regulation, or at least by favour of his holiness the 
Pope (Essay on the Matrices of Conventual Seals, 
p. 3.) Abbeys too had not only different seals for 
different purposes, but these were frequently altered 
and changed (Id. p. 7) ; though, from the seal of 
Hyde Abbey being worth 15 marks (Monast. i. 
210], I apprehend it must have been extremely ex- 
pensive to have them sculped. — So careless were 
the Monks of it, that M. Paris mentions its being 
thrown among a chest of papers (p. 1048). The 
Abbot's bajulus, or domestic Monk, was also the 
bearer of this seal (Id. 1051). A silver seal and 
chain, sigilliuni argenti cum cathena, is mentioned as 
a plain Monk's in MS. Harl. 1005, f. 69, b. 

b Of this see Preef. Notit. Monast. It is well 
known that W. I. &c. caused the Abbeys to be 
searched for treasures of this nature. There are in- 
junctions not to receive secular deposits, on account 
of the danger of so doing. (Deposita secularia 
nun suscipiet, quia multus ad pericula varia trax- 
erunt) MS. Cott. Jul. a. ix. f. 12. b. Accord- 
ing to certain constitutions they were to be received 
with consent of the Abbot and four Monks of 
" laudable testimony." M. Paris, 1096. These 
matters, as they were deposited for security, were 
also removed, after leave obtained, with the most 
profound secresy. Paston Letters, iii. 354. The 
custom seems to arise from the Roman deposits in 
the Temple of Vesta. At St. Alban's the charters 
were kept in chests, upon which, withinside, was a 
table of contents. M. Paris, p. 1035. At a Fran- 
ciscan Abbey at Donegall, in the Cloister are two 
narrow passages one over the other, seemingly 
placed for depositing valuable effects in times of 
danger. Sir R. C. Hoare's Tour, 191. 

c These carrels were locked, and contained vari- 
ous things. Cowellv. Carols. 



sury, he adds, was a convenient room, 
wherein was established the song- 
school, for the instruction of boys for 
the use of the Choir ; the song-school 
in the^South aile of the Ian thorn being 
decently furnished with a reading- 
desk, convenient seats, and all other 
requisite conveniencies, appropriated 
to the service of God ; where morning 
prayer was daily celebrated at six in 
the morning throughout the year, ex- 
cept on Sundays and holidays. 

A number of constitutions forbid 
women to have access to the Cloister, 
except noble patronesses and others to 
whom entrance could not be denied, 
unless on passing through on certain 
festivals, or going to the Church for 
devotion, and taking their way through 
(not talking or standing in the cloister), 
to the places deputed for the visitors, 
the hospitia of Abbots, or in great 
houses, the lodgings of Priors ; d but it 
was confessed only, that such regula- 
tions ought to be observed. e Among 
the Friars they were allowed to follow 
processions, and be present whenever 
there was preaching/ It seems too, 
that the Convent was much disturbed 
by persons of both sexes passing 
through,? and that the Monks were in 
the habit of gossiping in the corners in 
small parties, 11 in consequence of the 
injunction of reading instead of manual 
labour. 1 The Monks had each of 
them a book, except those studying 
the divine service, to whom the chantor, 
or a person deputed by him, attended. 
They sat side by side, never asked 
questions except of long or short ac- 



d M. Paris, 1100. Monast. ii. 566. C. G. North - 
ampt. a 1444. c. ix. 

e M. Paris. 

f Quum non fuerint processiones eos sequi po- 
terint ; et ubi prasdicabitur semper poterint inte- 
resse. MS. Cot. Nero, A. xn. 

s Item quia transitus communis personarum 
utriusque sexus per claustrum, incongruis tempo - 
ribus exercetur, et potissime horis illis, quibus 
fratres de conventu et contemplatione sancta studiis 
quoque ac lectionibus variis inibi occupantur, unde 
dissolutiones plurimse pervenerunt. MS. Harl. 328, 
f. 3. 

h Non bini aut terni seorsimperangulos claustri 
vacant. MS. Cott. Faustina, B. iv. f. 128. (Dis- 
quis. de Grandimont .) 

' l Dev. Vie Mon. ii. 395, b. 






CLOISTER. 



231 



cents, or beginnings of lessons at table, 
collation, and mattins, which questions 
were very short. When they found it 
necessary to go away for a time, they 
put their books in the case, or con- 
signed them to a Monk that sat nigh 
them. a Angry looks and signs were 
much reprobated. 

Embroidery, though forbidden in 
the rule of Ceesarius, 13 was a common 
employment of Monks : and others 
were not rare. The ancient Monks of 
Egypt worked in masonry, upholstery, 
carpentry, braziery, agriculture, cloth- 
making, shoe-making, basket-making, 
rope and net making, tanning, fulling, 
dressing and colouring the papyrus, 
fine writing, indeed every employment, 
agricultural and mechanical, necessary 
for the use of life. c 

The Nuns too, as the Monks, sat 
in their Cloister side by side, with one's 
back to the other's face, except they 
were reading in the same book, or sew- 
ing in the same cloth. No person 
passing bowed to any one but the 
Prioress ; nor could any lettered Nun, 
after Prime, be in the Cloister without 
a book ; and, if she sat idle at it, work 
instead was enjoined her.d But there 
were peculiarities attendant upon their 
Cloisters. There was a wheel made in 
the outer wall, too small for persons to 
go in and out at, but so managed, that 
though it precluded vision, necessaries 
could be administered by it ; and on 
either side of it was a strong door of 
small size (locked at night, and in sum- 
mer during the meridians), for the use 
of the attendant porteress, to manage 
her business. There was also only 
one door to enter the Cloister by, 
made so high, that it was accessible 
only by a ladder ; and this ladder, 
during the above periods, was fast 
bound by an iron chain on the Nun's 
side ; and a porteress attended to keep 
it locked. The grate, or locutory, 
consisted of an iron plate perforated, 
not to be opened, and strengthened 



a Monast. ii. 724, 5. 

b C. 42. " Dev. Vie Monast. ii. 406. 

d Monast. ii. 765. 



externally with projecting nails, over 
which, on the inner side, a black cloth 
was so placed, that they could neither 
see nor be seen. There they were 
allowed to converse at certain times, 
except from Complin to Prime, eating- 
time, the meridian, or during Divine 
Servicer Their processions were to 
be made within the yards and gardens 
surrounding their Cloister, with beat- 
ing of bells, hoods on, walking two and 
two, and the cross borne before. f 
The day of the Month was pro- 



e Mitig. Rule of S. Clare. The versatile window 
of the Sempringham Nuns, for necessary purposes, 
was not quite two feet high and broad. That of 
confession and conversation with parents, &c. once 
or twice a-year, a finger's length and breadth. 
Monast. ii. 757, 8. 2. 

f Athon. 157. Processions were founded upon 
Christ's ordering his disciples to go forth into 
Galilee. Rup. Tutiens. L. vii. C. 21. p. 991. In 
the Nuns' processions (Ord. Sernpr.) they were made 
through the Cloister, and curtains hung at every 
corner of it, to obstruct vision. Monast. ii. 765. 
The Sunday procession originated with Agapetus 
the First, a 537. M. Polonus, sub a . 

The standards of the Church, representing the 
Trinity, Saints, &c. made in the form of the La- 
barum, at least sometimes,* were, after the proces- 
sion was over, erected in the Church : f but there 
was a standard made of hair- cloth for reconciling 
penitents. After nones was sung, a Priest went to 
the western gate of the Church, clothed in sacer- 
dotal vestments, and a red silk cope, with two 
Deacons in white amesses, without the Sub-Dea- 
con, and without the cross, through the middle of 
the Choir, the hair-cloth standard preceding. Thus 
the penitent was introduced. X In all processions 
the cross was carried before, and when elevated 
signified temporal dominion. § Relicks were carried 
upon a fork sometimes. || The Cistertian Nuns 
wore a large and wide hood, called Culla, in pro- 
cessions.^ 

Shrines, ccntaining relicks, were carried in pro- 
cession with singing and bell ringing, in imitation 
of the Israelites carrying the ark.** 

The statio was a stoppage at the Oratories, or 
other places, and prayers were said, Antiphones 
sung, and Mass celebrated. They are said to have 
been taken from a custom of the first Christians to 
hold meetings at public Churches, or Oratories, to 
transact business. ft 



* Du Cange, v. Auriflamma. 

f Id. v. Vexillum. 

X Missale Sarisb. 

§ Notices des MSS. vi. 83. 

|| Du Cange, v. Branchada, 

% Id. v. Culla. 

** Id. v. Scrinium. 



ft 



Id. v. Statio, 



232 



CLOISTER. 



claimed in the Cloister every morning 
after Prime by the boys. a 

Books were chained in the Cloister 
for the instruction of the Novices, of 
which M sop's Fables is known to have 
been one. From a book of tales of 
this kind, a specimen shall now be ex- 
hibited of the wrong conclusions of the 
middle age. These tales begin with 
the moral, not conclude as is the mo- 
dern fashion ; and one of the stories 
intended to warn persons against lust b 
is this. A king's son, till a certain 
age, was kept from the society and 
knowledge of the female sex, and then 
shown every thing in the world ac- 
cording to its kind, men apart, women 
apart, houses apart, and elsewhere 
gold, silver, jewels, and every thing 
which could charm the eyes of the be- 
holders. He comes to the women, 
and asks, what those were ? The ser- 
vant answers sportively, these are de- 
vils, which seduce men. The heart of 
the boy began, however, to feel desire ; 
and when the king asked him, what he 
liked best of all which he had seen ? 
the other replied, (i I like the devils 

a Du Cange, v. Luna. 

b Valde cavendurn in viris religiosis, ne superen- 
tur in temptacione diaboli, &c. unde legimus, &c. 
MS. Harl. 463. f. 2, 3. 



which seduce men, better than all the 
others/' c 

In orders Eremite, the cells opened 
into the Cloister. That of the Car- 
thusians, at Shene, contained about 
thirty cells. d Nigel Wireker says, 
jocosely, " If I get among them, I must 
go to bed without a light/' e 

The tendency of perpetual solitude 
is to produce insanity. Intercourse 
with society is the regulator of the 
clockwork of reason. Judgment is the 
distinction of men of the world. Eras- 
mus says, that he never knew a Car- 
thusian Monk who was not mad, or an 
ideot. f Petrarch says otherwise ; but 
he proves the existence of social in- 
tercourse in Carthusians. 



c Omnia quse sunt in mundo secundum genus 
suum, vid. Tiros seorsim, mulieres seorsim, seorsim 
equos, et alio loco aurum, argentum, etlapides pre- 
ciosos, et omnia quse delectare possunt oculos in- 

tuentium ; servus respondit ludendo, " Istse 

sunt dsemones, homines seducentes ;" cor vero 
| pueri illarum desiderio certis rebus anhelabat. 
Cumque rex qusereret a puero, quid magis ex om- 
nibus quse viderat amaret, respondit, " Magis 
diligo daernones illos qui homines seducunt, quam 
omnia alia quse vidi." Ibid. 

d Itin. S. Simeon, et W. Worcest. p. 258. 

e " Et sine luce meum solus adibo thorum." 
Spec. Stultor. 

f Ichthyophagia Colloq. 439. 



INFIRMARY. 



233 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



INFIRMARY. 



This place had a Chapel* annexed, 
where divine service from a Breviary 
on purpose was celebrated ;*> a great 
table, with a bell over it, to assemble 
the Monks at meals ; c a stone where 
the dying sick were washed and re- 
ceived the extreme unction and sacra- 
ment/ and where Monks, affected 
with ennui and languor, were directed 
to sit and meditate ; e wood, coals, and 
other necessaries, saltcellars, spoons, 
candlesticks, towels, beds, and the 
straw of beds, and tables, in the Re- 
fectory of it ; it was also strewed with 
hay, rushes, straw, or other matters, 
when necessary/ There were also 
chambers duly provided with chimneys^ 
a distinction made by our ancestors. 
A common appendage to it was a gar- 
den or court for recreation of the sick. 
At Norwich was a long inclosed gallery 
for the same purposed A Nun sick of 
a cancer, who disturbed the rest by the 
smell, was removed by the Infirmaress, 
into a place called the Antexenodo- 
chiuml 

By the Anglo-Saxon institutes, a 
Monk taken severely sick announced 
his disease to the Abbot or the whole 
congregation, and having received the 
benediction, retired to the Infirmary. 
To this the Norman decretals added, 
that, from the day he began to eat 
flesh there, he should walk with his 



a A little chapel and lobby, or covered gallery 
for walking in. Du Cange, v. Lobia. 

b W. Thorne, c. 32, sec. 5. Angl. Sacr. i. 393, 
399. 

c M. Paris, 1009. 

d Id. 1045. 

e Cum se senserit teedio quodam et languore 
mentis affici componat se supra petram, in qua la- 
vantur mortui, et tractet apud se solicits quod vid. 
tractentur ibidem sepeliendi. MS. Harl. 103. f. 
115, a. 

f MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 205. a. 

* Angl. Sacr. i. 142, 646. 

h Parkins' s Norwich, 163, 

| Du Cange. 



hood on, and leaning on a staff; a 
trick which young and healthy Monks 
often played, to get admitted on pre- 
tence of illness. k As soon as he got 
well, after being shaved, he was to 
attend Divine Service at the hour be- 
fore the Chapter, and, if there was a 
Mass afterwards, not offer at it. When 
the Chapter commenced, he was then 
to enter as soon as the affairs of the 
Order began to be discussed, solicit 
pardon prostrate for having eaten meat, 
and, after absolution from the Abbot 
and Convent, throw himself at the 
feet of the Abbot, return thanks to 
him and the Convent for the assist- 
ance furnished to him in his sickness, 
and make three genuflexions. After 
that he was allowed mixtus that day, 
and as long as was necessary. If 5 how- 
ever, he had not eaten meat, it was in 
the Abbot's disposition when he should 
return to the Convent, and how con- 
duct himself afterwards. At St. Alban's 
the custom was for them, if they did 
not get well in three days, to enter the 
Infirmary, and then to be contented 
with regular food, unless by accelera- 
tion of disease they were compelled to 
eat meaU Medical assistance, though 
this was much neglected, was engaged 
to attend upon them, and medicines 
thus provided. 111 

Phlebotomy was in much fashion in 
the middle ages ; for, in the fifteenth 



k Bern. Dev. Vie Mon. iii. 48. 

1 M. Paris, 1009, but they had an Oriel for per- 
sons not so bad as to be sent to the Infirmary. 

m Unus medicus de bonis communibus ipsius 
ecclesiee debite procuretur, qui monachis et fra- 
tribus ejusdem infirmis de medicinis congruis, cum 
opus fuerit, provideat. MS. Harl. 328. p. 4. As 
they had no Monk of this description, they were to 
seek medical aid from elsewhere. Ibid. 

The Benedictines of S. Vitalis at Ravenna had 
a depot of Pharmacy for all kinds of medicines a 
complete surgery, and anatomical subjects, and in- 
struments for all kinds of operations. Observat 
but l'ltalie, t. i. 323, 324. 



234 



INFIRMARY, 



century, it was the subject of a poem ; a 
and Robert Boutevylleyn, a founder, 
claimed in the Abbey of Pipewell four 
bleedings per annum.* Among the 
Monks, this operation, which was per- 
formed by a servant, was termed minu- 
tion. A complete set of surgical in- 
struments was found at Herculaneum, 
a lancet excepted, but it is very clearly 
described and distinguished from the 
fleam by William Brito, and perhaps it 
was the Blod-sex of the Anglo-Saxons. 
In some Abbeys was a bleeding-house 
called FlebotomariaA By the Norman 
institutes, leave was to be asked imme- 
diately after Chapter, and the hour 
declared to the Cellarer ; in Winter, 
after the Gospel of the great Mass ; in 
Summer, after Vespers, having put on 
their nocturnal shoes, bowed, and 
turned to the east, they undressed. 
They were not to speak but from very 
urgent necessity, and then softly. Ex- 
emption from the Choir duty was 
granted till the commencement of the 
Chapter/ on the next day, or longer, 
if necessary/ On the morrow they 
put on their nocturnal shoes, for two 
days had mixtus, and performed a 
short religious service ; accordingly, as 
it was the season when the Convent 
took refection once or oftener, the Be- 
nediction was given by the senior 
Priest, the reading recited from me- 
mory., and the whole done in the Re- 
fectory. On the morrow, if any one 
of them was accused in Chapter, his 
munition was notified to the Prior, and 
he might solicit and receive pardon for 
a small fault ; but if it was irremissible, 
the discipline was to be delayed. There 
were certain festivals when this bleed- 
ing was not allowed ; as the festival of 
All Saints, because on the morrow all 
the Priests were to celebrate masses of 
the dead, and the rest say the psalms 



a Ayscough's Catal.ii. 833. 

b Monast. i. 818. 

c Du Cange, v. Lanceola. Phlebotomum. 

d Du Cange. 

e They did not attend Divine Service even on 
festivals. Reyn. Append. 165. 

1 From Sunday till Thursday, or a week, was 
sometimes the term allowed. Monast. ii. 274. 



appointed. It seems, that fire was 
allowed them in the Infirmary, g and 
that the Monks desired often to be 
bled, on account of eating meat. n 

In the order of St. Victor the bre- 
thren were bled five times a year, in 
September, before Advent, before Lent, 
after Easter, at Pentecost, which bleed- 
ing lasted three days : after the third 
day they came to Mattins, and were in 
the Convent. On the fourth day, they 
received absolution in the Chapter. In 
another rule, one Choir was bled at 
the same time in silence and psalmody, 
sitting in order in a cell. Other rules 
forbid a stated time of bleeding. 1 

By the Anglo-Saxon institutes, when 
a Monk was sick beyond prospect of 
recovery, it was notified to the Abbot 
and Convent by the Infirmarer, and 
they immediately attended him, gave 
him extreme unction, afterwards the 
Eucharist, and this continued till his 
death approached ; at which period 
they went to witness his departure, 
and begin the commendation of his 
soul. x\ccording to the Norman de- 
cretals, he was visited at first only by 
a deputation, k consisting of the Heb- 
domadary, Sacrist, and four Converts, 
who sprinkled him, confessed him, 
absolved him 1 (he likewise them), 
kissed him, gave him extreme unction, 
and the sacrament. Certain prayers 

s Quia infirmi fratres, et qui opus habebant mi- 
nui sanguini, igne carebant, idem Abbas Faritius 
consensu totius capituli concessit omnes redditus eis 
maneriorum subnotatorum, &c. MS. Cott. Claud. 
B. vi. f. 158. a. 

h Ubi juxta ordinis monastici rigorem in refec- 
torio carnes, aut in publico non comeduntur longe 
avidius longeque voracius et immoderancius in pri- 
vato suniuntur, dura propter hoc crebras monachi 
simulant egrotaciones, dumque creberrimas ob hoc 
sanguinis appetunt et affectant minuciones, &c. 
MS. Cott. Tiber. B. 13. Nee extra refectorium in 
infirmitorio esum carnhiin credant sibi licere. MS. 
Bibl. Reg. 8 F. IX. 

1 Du Cange, v. Minuere. 

k The Prior's chaplain only. Davies. 

1 Ego auctoritate Dei et beatorum Apostolorum 
Petri et Pauli, et domini nostri, domini Xicholai 
Papce quinti, michi in hac parte specialiter com- 
missa, et tibi concessa, absolvo te. MS. Bibl. 
Reg. 2, A. 2. Instead of this blasphemous inser- 
tion of the Pope's name, in the above absolution, 
(the one used on these occasions,) on a par with that 
of God, that in Herbert's Ames, i. 310, has only 
" virtute papalis indulgentiee." 



INFIRMARY. 



235 



were made for him in the Mass : and 
this was done till he seemed likely to 
recover ; but, if the contrary appeared 
manifest, he was never without two 
Monks, a who constantly read to him 
the passion of our Lord, and the Gos- 
pels, while he was sensible (and also 
said their hours there) ; and when he 
was deprived of his understanding, 
never ceased singing the Psalter. b As 
soon as he appeared upon the verge of 
dissolution, a servant laid a hair-cloth 
over him, c and sat watching d till he was 
just departing, and then, with the two 
Monks, ran to the Cloister-door, and 
beat upon a table, to give notice to 
the Convent to come to him; which 
they accordingly did, and began a reli- 
gious sendee, after which they again 
retired, certain of them remaining to 
say the Psalter. Afterwards they re- 
turned again to perform the commen- 
dation of his soul. " Thence," says 
Davies, whose account agrees with the 
Norman institute, " he (the deceased) 
was carried to a chamber called the dead 
man's chamber, in the Infirmary, there 
to remain till night. The Prior's chap- 
lain, as soon as he was conveyed to 
the dead man's chamber, locked the 
chamber door where he died, and car- 
ried the key to the Prior. At night he 
was removed from the dead man's 
chamber into St. Andrew's Chapel, ad- 
joining to the said chamber and infir- 
mary, there to remain till eight o'clock 
in the morning, the Chapel being a place 
ordained only for solemn devotion. e The 
night before the funeral, two Monks, 
either in kindred or kindness, nearest 
to him, were appointed by the Prior to 



a The Bajuli Obituum were officers in Abbeys, 
whose duty it was to receive and distribute legacies, 
and attend to the service of the hours and oiits. 
Du Cange. Perhaps these were the two Mo?iks of 
Davies. 

b See this in Angl. Sacr. i. 654. 

c It should be under him, together with the 
ashes consecrated on Ash "Wednesday (Du Cange, 
v. Cinis), from " Dust thou art, and to dust thou 
shalt return." 

d Servientes etiam qui vigilant circa fratrem 
proximum morti. Monast. i. 149. 

e First there occurs, positoque corpore in loco, 
ubiponi solet ; afterwards, locato in ecclesia cor- 
pore. Deer. Lanfr. 



be especial mourners, and to sit all 
night on their knees at the dead 
corpse's feet; f and the children of the 
Almery, sitting on their knees in stalls 
on either side of him, were to read 
David's Psalms s till eight in the 
morning, when the corpse was carried 
to the Chapter-house, where the Prior 
and the whole Convent met it, and 
there said their dirge and devotion; 
none being permitted to approach the 
Chapter-house during the time of their 
devotion and prayers for his soul. 11 
When their devotion was ended, the 
corpse was carried by the Monks from 
the Chapter-house through the par- 
lour, into the centrygarth, where he 
was buried. i 

It was the duty of the Infirmarer to 
give the communion to the sick, when 
they wished, especially on every Sun- 
day, k and he had a claustral Monk to 
assist him in respect to revenues. 1 The 
Prior, Sub-prior, Kitchener, or per- 
son deputed by them, were to visit the 
Infirmary before Prime, m and such vi- 
sitations were observed. 11 The Prior, 
or in his absence the President, twice 
or once at least in the week, were to 
visit the Infirmary personally ; ° and 
the Infirmarer was to certify the Ab- 
bot, when he could not visit himself, 
of the state of matters .P 

Sawing billets in rooms for exercise 
upon medical principles was a common 
employment of the sick in these ages, 
and was borrowed from Galena 



f Deputentur aliquifratres, qui ibi remaneant. Id. 

s Quicquid superest noctis infantes cum magis- 
tris canendo expendant. Id. 

h Facto in capitulo sermoneabsolvat eum Abbas, 
&c. Id. The last part, of never approaching the 
Chapter when the Convent was there, was at all 
times usual. 

1 Confession, absolution, &c. and similar burial 
for lay-brothers. MS. Bodl. Barl. 7. p. 270, 1. 

k Ad imirmarium pertinet inrirmos fratres com- 
municare cum voluerint, et precipue omni die do- 
minica. MS. Bodl. Barl. 7. p. 185. 

I Dec. Script. 2113. 

m Wilkins's Concil. ii. 723. 

II M. Par. 1099. 

Wilk. Concil. ii. 247. 

p M. Par. 1009. 

i Galen de Sanit. tuenda, ch. 8. v. 2. p. 148. 
Smythe's Berkeley's MS. 21 7. " In her elder years 
she [Joan Lady Berkeley, t. H. III.] used to saw 



236 



INFIRMARY. 



It was usual for Monks, in chronic 
infirmities, to spend their remaining 
days in the Infirmary. a Secular per- 
sons used to have access (and to eat) 
there in crowds, so as to be trouble- 
some^ and the place was full of gos- 
siping and scandal. c Seculars were 
admitted at all hours to carry necessa- 
ries to the sick. d The sick did not 
dine at the common table ; e and there 
seems to have been an excess of ser- 
vants, besides the usual ones, who 
never slept out of the place, or ought 
not to have done so. f It was resorted 
to for private treats. When John de 
Whitefeld, Monk of Rochester, preach- 
ed in the Chapter about his Bishop, it 
was said that the brethren bribed him 
in the Infirmary with wine.s The 
Monks were in the habit of going 
there, and to the hostrey, after com- 
plin, and used both to feign sickness, 
and be loth to leave it. The Monks too, 
oppressed with old age, the Sempectce, 
spent their remaining days there ; h 



billets and sticks in her chamber for part of phy- 
sick, for which purpose she bought certain fine 
hand sawes, which commonly cost 11^. a piece." 
Taylor the water-poet says (p. 241), "Now all 
their exercise is privately to saw billets." 

a Monast. i. 301. Dec. Scriptores, 1783. Aug. 
Sacra, i. 299. 

b Injungimus etiam ipsis prioribus et fratribus, 
ut non permittant tantum ad infirmariam concur- 
sum fieri ssecularium, exceptis medicis et servito- 
ribus ad iniirmorum curam deputatis. MS. Cott. 
Claud. E. iv. f. 245, a. Hoc autem summopere 
caveatis, ne alicui seculari ibi comedere cum nio- 
nachis concedatur. Id. Jul. D. n. 1586'. 

c A superfluis et vanis sermonibus abstineant ; 
prohibeantur etiam rumores saeculares in iiifirmaria 
de fratre, et secreta, qua? inter fratres audierint, 
publicare. Ibid. 

d Angl. Sacr. i. 360. 

e Statuimus in super ut nullus infirmus ab infir- 
morum mensa communi se subtrahat, nisi tanta 
corporis invaletudine sit detentus, quod ad ilium 
accederenequeat sine scandalo et gravamine corpo- 
ris evidenti, preeter gistarios et illos cum quibus ex 
gratia nostra speciali fuerint dispensati. MS. Cott. 
Claud. E. iv. f. 245. 

1 Noct. et dieb. in infirmaria recubabunt et ex- 
cubabunt. MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 205. d. M. 
Par. 1096. Reyn. App. 127. 

e Angl. Sacr. i. 373. 

h Quod aliquis ad innrmariam vel domum hos- 
pitum non audeat acccdere ni specialiter vocatus. 
MS. Cott. Nero, A. xn. f. 158, b. Fratres autem 
iDfirmi, cum ab ipsorum infirmitatibus, vel alias, 
quum meliorati fuerint, quum competenter cum 
ceteris in coaventu laborare potuerint ; ulterius in 



and there appears to have been very 
good living in it ; for, says Piers Plow- 
man, 

By this daye, syr doctour, quod I, than ye be not 

in dowel, 
For ye have harmed us two, in that ye eate the 

puddinge, 
Mortreux,* and other meate, and we no morsel had, 
And if ye fare so in your farmer y. k 

This was very illiberal satire, for our 
ancestors rarely used medical assist- 
ance. Burton, from Paulus Jovius and 
Levinus Lemnius, observes, "That 
there was of old no use of physicke 
amongst us, and but little at this day, 
except it be for a few nice idle citizens, 
surfetting courtiers, and staulfed gen- 
j tlemen lubbers. The country-people 
| use kitchen physicke/' &C. 1 Matthew 
Flint, tooth-drawer of London, received 
from the crown 6d. a day for life, to 
exercise his art upon the poor without 
fee or reward. 111 These passages show 
the reason why there was such neglect 
of medical aid ; viz. because good living 
or kitchen physick was most in vogue : 
whence the rich dishes used in the In- 
firmary. 

Davies says, that four aged women 
lived in the Infirmary, who had each 
chambers, were fed from the Prior's 
table, and had Mass said to them every 
holiday and Friday in the Infirmary 
Chapel, by the master of the Infirmary 
School, whose chamber and place of 
teaching certain poor children, called 
the children of the Almery, were over 
that place of worship. 

In the Infirmary of the Order of St. 
Clare, the Nuns might lie in sacks and 



infirmaria residere, aut infirmitates fingere non 
prsesumant. Gistarii (Gista is Jus Hospitii. Du 
Cauge) autem efc qui solum senectute gravantur, 
communibus cibis in quantum possint sint contenti. 
MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 245. 

' A rich soup. Tyrwhitt is right in the ingre- 
dients ; add only brawn of fesantes, as well as of 
capons. See MS. Bodl. Hearne, 197, in sect. 
Mortraws eweas. k F. lxvi. 

1 Burton's Anat. Melanch. p. 368, ed. folio. 

111 Pat. 1 H. IV. pars 6 m. 10. in Vincent's MSS. 
Coll. of Arms. The toothdrawing instrument is 
pretended by Erasistratus to have been takeu from 
the temple of Apollo at Delphos ; but assuredly is 
very ancient. Du Cauge makes it similar to the 
present pincers ; but his authorities and extracts do 
not support this affirmation. See v. Dmtiducum, 



INFIRMARY 



237 



chaff, but with pillows of feathers at 
their head. Those who wanted woollen 
stockings, and culcitrce.* might have 
them. Thev might too converse, con- 
cisely, with visitors. 13 

The ceremonial, with regard to dying 
Nuns, was similar to that of the Monks, 
except that they were anointed on the 
throat above the breast and chin, 
instead of the navel and throat in 
males. The confession and unction in 
the Order of Sempringham was admi- 
nistered by deputed Priests; the sick 
who were able to take the communion 
with others went to it in common with 
them, at the window, or had it admi- 
nistered, as their situation demanded, 
by two religious and a lay-brother, Who 
had a private way to go to them for this 
purpose, that they might not be seen. 
The Preecentrix appointed the sick 
some task to execute : none of the 
hours were said in the Infirmary before 
they were began in the Church, except 
sext and the evening synaxts in Lent. 
If any Lettered Nun was sick, another 
said the hours for her ; the use of the 
lay-sisters was to suffice, if there was 
no substitute. 

At St. Alban's was an Oriel, c or 
apartment for persons not so sick d as 
to retire to the Infirmary ; and there 
were regulations among the Sempring- 
ham Nuns of this kind. The sick 



a Either quilts or beds ; the latter here, I suppose. 

'' Ex Regula. 

c The Oriel appears to have been sometimes at 
least a porch, atrium, or pentice. Du Cange, v. 
Orialttm. 

d The Rule of St. Victor says, that there were 
three kinds of sick in the Infirmary ; some who 
kept their beds, others who were recovering and 
walked, but yet staid there for the recovery of their 
strength ; others lived constantly there, as the old, 
nfirm, blind, &c, Du Cange. v. Infirmaria. 



not in the Infirmary attended all 
the daily hours, but the prayers only of 
those of the nocturnal svnaxis. In case 
•of sudden attack, the sick Nun did not 
join the labour of the Convent, unless 
she had before been united with it in 
divine service. They only ate and 
drank in the Refectory or Infirmarv. 
They were exempted from offices which 
had been imposed upon them. They 
did not enter the Church to pray when 
the Convent was present. They were 
prohibited from making signs at the 
table, either after Complin or before 
Prime, or at mid-day, unless from im- 
moderate sickness. While the Con- 
vent was at refection in summer, they 
could do any work or read. Those 
who worked could do so in their sca- 
pulary, and sleep by day : and at night 
in their hoods. YCoollen mifrce, a sort 
of hoods like those of the lay-brothers, 
were granted to the brethren when at 
work or travelling ; as well as to the 
sick, when sitting before the Infirmary 
in super pelliceis, [garments belonging 
to Canons, differently formed in various 
countries.] e Any one who left the 
Choir from sickness, before the Venite 
was over, lawfully entered the Infir- 
mary. The sick who could walk had 
leave to speak with their parents at the 
window. Nuns, or lay sisters, conti- 
nually sick, had periodical indulgences 
of fifteen clays or more at a time, twice, 
thrice, or four times in a year, of eating 
meat. All the Sick, able to leave their 
beds, ate together, in fixed places and 
hours, and regularly said their canonical 
hours . f The neglect of the Nuns in 
general, respecting the Infirmary, has 
been already mentioned. 



Du Cans-e. v. Mttra. 



1 Monast. ii. 775 — 7, 



233 



GUEST-HALL. 



CHAPTER XL. 



GUEST-HALL. 



This place was, at Canterbury, forty- 
feet broad, and not less than one hun- 
dred and fifty long, situated where it is 
was least likely to interfere with the 
privacy of the Monks, or business of 
their servants, and had a covered way 
or pentice leading to the cellarer's of- 
fices. 8 The Guest- Hall was a large 
room with columns, like the body of a 
Church, and called Palatium, Palace, 
anciently meaning a place of short re- 
sidence. It had on both sides bed- 
rooms, to each a privy and cloaths' 
closet. Passages of communication led 
to staircases, cellars, and the buttery. 
B. Willis, in his Mitred Abbies, says, 
that John de Hertford, Abbot of St. 
Albany's, in 1260, built a noble hall for 
the use of strangers in that abbey, 
adding many chambers to the same, 
with an inner parlour, having a chim- 
ney with a noble picture, and an entry, 
and a small hall; also a most noble 
entry with a porch, and many very fair 
bedchambers, with their inner cham- 
bers to receive strangers honourably. 
Here we see, that this hospice consisted 
of two sets of apartments, one for com- 
mon pilgrims and travellers, the other 
for persons of rank. b There was an 
edifice, or room before the Guest-Hall, 
called Pro-aula, the Greeting-House of 
iElfric, or Salutatorium, a place where 
persons were first received. It appears 
to have been the same as the visitors 
parlour, and perhaps, as the Pulsato- 
rium, (so called from "Knock and it 
shall be opened unto you/') where Can- 
didates for admission to the Order 
stayed and waited upon strangers, &c. 
because it adjoined the Hostrey. c 

a Gostling's Canterbury Walk, 152, 3. 

b Owen and Blakeway's Hist, of Shrewsbury, 
ii. 50. 

c Du Cange, v. Palatium, Pro-aula, Pulsato- 
rium, Salutatorium. Cowell, v. Garderoba. Col- 
lect. Reb. Hybern. No. IX. 680. M. Par. 1071. 
Britton's Architect. Antiq. ii. 78. 



In the admission of visitors, as soon 
as they were disengaged, they made a 
trifling venia at the gate of the house. 
At getting up they sprinkled them- 
selves with holy water. When the 
Convent sat in the Cloister, or where- 
soever absent, they made a prayer for 
excesses on the way in the choir in the 
presence of the Convent, and did the 
same before the altar of the vestiary. 
If the Convent was on the form, they 
took their venia; if not, they bowed 
and made their prayer. The hosteler 
met them in the parletory, and gave 
the kiss of peace, after the Benedicite, 
which was properly the Abbot's office ; 
but the officer, if he liked it, could 
confer it upon any person of note, or, 
as it is precisely said in the same con- 
suetudinal, the benediction for excesses 
was received, the hosteler went out of 
the choir, and met the visitor; and 
then, after the kiss of peace, and tender 
words of love and consolation, returned 
to the service in the choir. If he came 
before dinner to the refectory, notice was 
given to the refectioner. If he was too 
late to dine with the Convent, he staid 
in the locutory till the refectory was 
swept, and then was introduced. The 
hosteler provided all things fit for mass 
for the visitors; and if he was pre- 
vented, any one asked by him sung the 
mass and hours to them, for they had 
divine service as well as the Convent. 
They had meat and drink at solicitation, 
and the hosteler was to fetch the 
viands, according to the rank of the 
person ; d all which was, however, ac- 



d In admissione hospitum hospites omnirnodo 
expediti ad hostium Monasterii parvge venia incum- 
bent. In venia: elevatione in introitu ecclesise 
aqua benedicta se aspergent. Conventu in claus- 
tro residente, vel quoquam (f. 1. q. quoquo*) ab- 
sente orationem pro excessibus in via surreptis in 
choro facient, conventu praesente ; ante altare ves- 
tiarii identidem net. Si conventus super formana 
* See Monast. ii. 769. 



GUEST-HALL, 



239 



companied with the unpleasant ap- 
pendages of a dirty table-cloth/ very- 
indifferent wine, grease in the salt, and 
a clownish servant. 13 The Hosteler 
could not introduce them to the colla- 
tion before the end of the first verse. 
When this was over, he lighted his lan- 
tern, with which the visitors ivaited be- 
fore the Chapter door. He then intro- 
duced them into the parlour; after 
which they had refection, and Comp- 
lin was sung to them. If they wished 
to be bled, their inclination was noti- 
fied by the Hospitaler to the Abbot, 
and every thing usual on such occasions 
was done under the care of the former 
officer. If they desired to see any one 
of the Convent, the Hosteler took care, 
with leave of the Prior, that their re- 
quest should be gratified ; and the 
Monk had liberty to speak without re- 
mission of the license. They could 
not leave the Cloister but by permis- 
sion of the hosteler, who was to guide 
them out. If the visitors wished to 
speak with their servants, lodged within 



recubuerit veniam accipient, sin alias se inclinando 
orationem facient. . . . Hospite in locutorio intro- 
ducto, hostilarius dicet Benedicite ; benedictione 
pro excessibus accepta ; osculoque pacis dato tene- 
risque verbis amoris et consolationis ad boram bos- 
tilarius in cbonim regredietur. Si in discubitu 
conventus tarn morosus fuerit ejus adventus quod in 
conventu discumbere non possit, non introducetur, 
sed in locutorio erit donee scopatio fiat in refecto- 
rio ; postmodum bostilarius eum introducet. . . . 
hospitibus expeditis missaru celebrare. MS. Cott. 
Claud. B. vi. f. 205, 6, 7. 

a In tbe advice of a father to bis son (Hawkins's 
Musick, ii,465), tbe son is directed to be careful 
tbat bis table be covered with a clean clotb. I could 
add numerous other authorities. 

b In MS. Harl. 913, f. 58, b. is a short poem 
entitled, " Hospitalitas monachorum et salutatio 
de claustro ,•" of which the only parts of import are, 
the above " Sordidum mappale ; paniscoctus melle ; 
vinum tale quale ; oleus in sale ; mancipium rusti- 
cale." 

c Hostilarius hospites non introducet ad colla- 
cionem ante primi versus determinacionem. Colla- 
tione terminate prout tempus exegit lanternam ac- 
cendet. In regressu terminatse collationis hospites 
ante hostium capituli cum lanterna prsestolabun- 
tur. Postmodum in locutorium eos ducet. ..... si 

hospes minui voluerit hostilario significabit, hostila- 
rius abbati et indicabit, et omnia consuetudinaria 
minutionis habebit, hostilariusque curam minuto- 
riam ei exhibebit. Si hospes aliquem de Conventu 
venire voluerit hostilarii cura loquetur licentia a 
priore expetita. [If refused, the Monk was not to 
know it. Deer. Lanfr.] Illi licet sine remissione 
licentise loqui cum hospite. Id. 



the gates of the court, the hosteler 
caused the keeper of the locutory to 
deliver the message ; if they lodged 
without the gates, the porter performed 
the office. If any breach of silence or 
great disorder was made by a visitor, 
he was detained till the Chapter of the 
next day ; and, emendation having 
been made, according to the will of the 
Prior and Chapter, he made his bow, 
and departed. When the visitors 
wished to depart before day-break, or 
at that time, the hosteler took the keys 
of the parlour from the Prior's bed, 
and dismissed them according to the 
rule and their rank; after which he 
again locked the doors ? and carried the 
keys back to the Prior's bed. On 
Sundays, before procession, no one 
could receive the benediction, or cere- 
mony of dismission. — [Whence our 
farewell of God bless you, or Goodbye, 
i. e. God be with you. The King did 
not leave England without the bene- 
diction of the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury. It consisted in that Prelate's 
making the sign of the Cross upon the 
King's head, who stooped for that pur- 
pose.] d — If necessity urged, they could 
receive h\at Mattins ; and guests not re- 
turning the same day, at Prime and all 
other hours, except Vespers. Similar 
regulations obtained with respect to 
Nones, rung after dinner. e 

Persons of rank were received with 
procession and high honours. One of 
the great bells was struck three times, 

d Eadm. 25,41. 

c Hospes claustrum non egredietur nisi licentia 
ab hostilario detur, ut ductu ejus egrediatur. Si 
hospes cum famulis suis infra portas curiae hospitaiis 
loqui voluerit, hostilarius per custodem locutorii 
eos mandabit. Si portas curiae transgredietur, 
idemptidem faciet administratione janitoris. Quo- 
tiens ante lucifragum, vel die lucescente abire volue- 
runt, hostilarius claves loquutorii ad lectum prioris 
accipiet, hospitesque ordinate, et pro personarum 
dignitate emittet, postmodum secundum temporis 
exigentiam hostia reobserabit, clavesque ad lectum 
reportabit. Dominicis diebus ante, processionem 
nulli licet accipere benedictionem [apres ceo prist il 
beneyson, et conge de l'Abbe et du covent. Monast. 
ii. 219.] Si necessitas instat ad matutinas bene- 
dictionem accipiat. Primse et omnibus aliis horis 
hospites non revertentes eodem die benedictionem 
debent accipere. Nullus ad vesperas benedictionem 
proficiscendi accipiat. Idemptidem fiet ad nonam 
post prandium pulsatam. Id. 



240 



GUEST-HALL, 



to give the Monks notice of assem- 
bling in the Church to robe themselves. 
The Sacrist spread a carpet and a pal- 
lium above, before the great Altar, upon 
the upper step, also before the rood. 
Upon the near approach of the visitor, 
the two greater bells were rung. When 
the procession made a stand, at the re- 
ception of the guest, the Abbot gave him 
the holy-water sprinkle, afterwards the 
incense, and the Prior the text, if he 
was a Bishop ; other persons the Abbot 
sprinkled himself. When they entered 
the Church, and made a stand before 
the crucifix, the boys stood between 
the two Choirs ; and the bearers of the 
holy water and other things advanced 
through the midst, and stood before the 
crucifix with their faces towards it. 
In the mean while the visitor continued 
praying; and, when he arose, a service 
was begun in honour of the patron 
saint. Then the bearers advanced to 
deposit the respective processionalia as 
soon as they came to the Altar. The 
infants and others followed, filing off 
on each side the Altar according to 
seniority. The visitor again prayed ; 
and, when the chaunt was over, (if a 
Bishop, after he had given the bene- 
diction,) kissed all the Monks ; who, 
however, because in copes, or robed, 
were not to kneel before him, as was 
usual with a Bishop, Abbot, or Prince, 
but humbly bowing, proceed to the sa- 
lutation. If he was a spiritual person, 
and the Abbot wished to be expedi- 
tious, the Monks were unrobed, and sat 
in Chapter, where the visitor was in- 
troduced, and requested the benedic- 
tion. This was followed by a reading 
from Scripture ; after which, if he chose, 
he preached. If he was an Abbot he 
kissed the Monks at the entrance of 
the Chapter, as they retired ; and if he 
did not enter that place, at a fit season, 
he did it in the Cloister. a The flatter- 
ies and homage paid to great visitors 
were such, that a dying Abbot said, 
"Thou well knowest what flatteries 
and adulations thou hast made, for tem- 
poral and perishable things, to secular 

a Deer. Lanfr. 



persons, not in truth but falsehood, 
against your conscience." b These 
flatteries are thus in the most piquant 
style satirized by an ancient Goliard or 
Jester, " When it is dinner time, dine 
with the great man ; fill the glasses 
with exquisite wine. When it is cold, 
sit at the fire, hold the richest wine in 
your hands, fill the empty cups; per- 
suade him to drink and drink again. 
When he has well soaked, have a bed 
for him ; he will gladly stay with you. 
When he looks in his purse, throw out 
a hint how much he has drank : if he 
has been intemperate, take it kindly : 
say nothing of what has passed." In 
an exemplification of this satire, we are 
told of an Abbot who, in order to exhi- 
lirate the mind of a certain knight, and 
gain his good will, plied him well with 
choice liquor, in the English fashion. 
In order to provoke him to drink 
better, instead of Wesheil, the Abbot 
gave for the toast Pril, to which the 
other was instructed by the Abbot, in- 
stead of Drinkheil to reply Wril ; and 
thus drinking and toasting with Pril 
and Wril, and assisted by the Monks, 
lay brothers, and servants, they went 
on till midnight. d Thomas Pennant, 



b Tu bene nosti, quot favores et adulationes pro 
temporalibus et caducis faciebas secularibus homini- 
bus, non veritate sed fictione, contra conscientiam 
tuam. MS. Bodl. Fairfax, 17. § Lamentatio Ger- 
vasii Abb. 

c Et hora cum fuit, cum ipso prandete. Mero 
delectabili calices implete. Tempus cum sit frigi- 
dum ad prunas sedete. Vinum meracissimum ma- 
nibus tenete. Calices si fuerint vacui replete. Ut 
bibat et rebibat ssepe suadete. Si bene potavit, 
lectum tunc habete. Vobiscum moram faciet li- 
benter etlsete\ In bursa dum reperit stantes mo- 
nete. De dono haustse fuerint quindecim metretse, 
&o. Modum si excesserit blande sustinete. Quod 
fit in consorcio pandere cavete. MS. Harl. 978, f. 
58, b. 

d Abbas autem ut militis animum exbilararet, 
ipsumque sibi placabilem magis efficeret, calices ei 
crebros de potu electo more Anglicano propinari 
fecit. Ipsemet quoque quatinus ad melius potan- 
dum militem provocaret, et efficacius invitaret, loco 
Wesheil ait ei Pril. Ille vero ignorans quid 
respondere deberet, edoctus ab Abbate, pro Drink- 
heil respondit ei Wril, et sic provocantes ad invi- 
,cem et compotantes cum monachis et fratribus as- 
sistentibus et servientibus ingeminare pril, wril, et 
alternatim ssepius usque noctis ad horam profundio- 
ris inculcare non destiterunt. MS. Cott. Tiber B. 
B. 13. [bpixl isreciprocatio;pvi\ f vrtil,h6b,n6b.'} 
This was against all rule : Neubrigensis says (154), 



GUEST-HALL. 



241 



Abbot of Basingwerk, is said to have 
given twice the treasure of a king in 
wine ; a and they were profuse of more 
humble liquors. b The apartments for 
the reception of persons of quality, as 
says Davies and others, were furnished 
in a most splendid style. 

Visitors were allowed to make a stay 
of two days and nights; and on the 
third, after dinner, they were to depart. 
If by accident a guest could not then 
go, the Hosteler signified his request to 
the Abbot, Prior, or Curiarius, for a 
longer stay. If he was taken ill, his 
stay was regulated by the disposition of 
the Prior, and the exigency of the dis- 
ease. If in health, he was to be present 
at Mattins, unless he had leave to the 
contrary, and follow the Convent in 
every thing. If a visitor exceeded 
three days d among the Friars Minors, 
he mentioned his fault in the Chapter, 
and, after receiving pardon, departed. 6 

Constitutions enact that ho spitality 
should be shown to all, to religious per- 
sons, especially those of the order (who 
were to be consigned to the tables' of 



that prayers were said during drinking, and our Sa" 
viour's name mentioned. The old Danes and Nor- 
mans, says James Delmerus, used to drink in ho" 
nour of Odin, Thor, &c. ; but after conversion, t° 
the Saints. The form of this toast is given by 
Christ, de Scala, in the life of St. Wenceslaus, p. 
56. " Again, sitting in the eating-room, and taking 
the cup, he says, with a loud voice, let us drink this 
cup in the name of the holy Archangel Michael, 
begging and praying him to introduce our souls into 
the peace of eternal exaltation." To this the vi- 
sitors replied Amen, and drank the cup. If they 
were going to part, the kiss of peace, as now shak- 
ing hands, went round. See Du Cange, y. Bibere 
in amove Sanctorum, for more on this subject. 
a Pennant's Whiteford, 33. 
b British Topography, ii. 461. 
c Licet hospiti biduo continuationem duarum 
noctium morari tertioque die donee discubuerit. Si 
casu incidente, profectio ejus expedita non fuit, 
hostilarius Abbati, vel priori, et curiario ejus im- 
portunitatem significabit. Si infirmitate oppressus 
fuerit, indulta erit, &c. Si sanitate exhilaratur, 
matutinis, nisi licentiam petat, intererit, conven- 
tumque omnirnodo sequatur. MS. Cott. Claud. B. 
vi. f. 206, b. 

d This was the old Celtic period of visits. See 
Ossian, in Carthon, Colna-dona. Fingal. B. hi. 
Temora, B. ii. It is explained by Cowell, v. Ho- 
genhine, Third-night. Du Cange, &c. 

e Ipsi vero hospites in locis ubi ultra tres dies 
moram traxerint, dicant in capitulo culpas suas, et 
dicta, culpa acceptaque pardona, egrediantur. MS. 
Bodl. 1882, p. 52, a. 



the Abbots, or other fit and honourable 
places), and to the Friars, who were to 
be excluded the Refectory and private 
places deputed for the recreation of the 
Monks. f Women were to be received, 
who came with an honourable suite.s 
Particular attention was to be paid to 
the parents of Monks ; for whom ne- 
cessaries and food were to be found 
whenever they came to see their chil- 
dren ; especially on the Nativity of the 
Virgin Mary, wheresoever they took 
refection in the town or house ; and 
they were to be honourably received on 
the vigil." 

It seems that the Monks were in the 
habit of often going to the visitors ; i 
and, as if pitying the miseries of the 
poor, asking abundance of questions of 
the peace of the nobles, making 
speeches of the cruelty of knights, and 
the superfluity of clerks, interrupting 
their conversation with sighs, as from 
compassion; and then, when the bell 
rung, tripping off, after a previous 
whisper, that if the Abbot or Prior 
should come, the visitors would not 
forget to say a kind word in their fa- 
vour . k It seems too that the sons of 
donors, when unable to injure the 
Monks by means of law, would burden 
them with continual visits and hospi- 
tality; 1 and that, from the heavy weight 



f C. G. Northampt. a 1343. c. xvii. and a° 1444. 
c. ix. 

s Honesta, comitiva. Custum. Roffens. 235. 

11 Item parentes monachorum ad domum istam 
(Edmundsbury) divertentes honorificentius solito 
admittantur ; et uberius procurentur, maxime pa- 
rentes claustralium. MS. Cott. Jul. D. ii. f. 160. 
b. Quociens parentes monachorum eos visitare ve- 
nerint, omnia necessaria eis et victus sunt decer- 
nenda. Maxime in nativ. S. Mar. ubicunque co- 
mederint in villa vel in curia. Item debent recipi 
honorifice in vigilia. MS. Cott. Claud, b. vi. p. 

187. 

« The hosteler sometimes separated them against 
their will. Monast. i. p. 2. 

k Crebrius egreditur (monachus) ad hospites, et 
quasi calamitatibus pauperum compaciens de pace 
principum terrse quserit, sermones faciens de acer- 
bitate militumet de superfluitate clericorum, inter- 
polatis suspiriis, tanquam misericordia motus super 
eos. Ad sonitum campanse necessarium abire pro- 
ponit, nee omittit in auribus instillare ut cum vene- 
rit abbas, aut prior, meminerint apud eos ipsum, 
commendare. MS. Harl. 1712. f. 236. 

i Hist. Raines, prol. para 2. 
R 



242 



GUEST-HALL, 



of the latter, several statutes were made 
to ease them ; a and indeed they were 
not only liable to this expense, but to 
stabling for horses, the maintenance of 
sporting dogs, hawks, servants, (claims 
of founders,) and convert Jews. b 

In the Hostrey of the Nuns, she 
who received the visitors was allowed 
to speak to them. Cloths were kept 
for their feet. The place was inclosed 
in the Nuns' court, but excluded from 
their view. No Nun entered the Hos- 
trey, but the Prioresses and obedien- 
tiaries. Lay-sisters of the Hostrey in- 
troduced them into the Oratory pre- 
pared for them while the Nuns were 
singing the hours, but brought them 
back before they left the Choir. Two 
or three Nuns presided over the 
Hostrey, and conversed with the bet- 



a 5 Ed. I. 9 Ed. II. c. ii. West. 1 Ed. III. 
b Monast. i. 818 ; II. 459. Tovey, 227, 14 Edw. 
III. St. 4. c. 1. 



ter sort of visitors ; Lay-sisters served 
them, and slept there when necessary. 
If the visitors were to be brought any 
where within the Nuns' courts, they 
were introduced by Nuns. No meat 
was given them to eat without the 
masters especial license : nor was any 
one permitted to bathe, be bled, or ex- 
ceed the stay of one night, without 
that of the Prioress. The Nuns con- 
versed with the guests or relatives, and 
none were excluded from their maundy, 
unless sick; the table for this office 
was struck after the Convent was gone 
to the Dorter. The Lay-sister spoke 
only to female pilgrims, and no Nun 
entered, if a visitor brought a boy 
with her.c 



c Monast. ii. 769. All Davies says of import 
concerning the hostrey is, that it was like the body 
of a church, with pillars on each side, and a large 
range for the fire in the midst of it, with chambers 
and lodgings belonging to it. 



LOCUTORY, OR PARLOUR, 



243 



CHAPTER XLI. 



LOCUTORY, OR PARLOUR, 



Du Caxge says, that there were three 
parlours among the Clugniacks and 
Cistercians ; and that in a parlour, the 
Monks assembled for conversation ; 
and that the Monastic Schools were 
held there. a — Of these apartments 
there were two, one for the Monks, 
another for the visitors. This apart- 
ment was for conversation, when 
silence was enjoined in other places. 
The rule of St. Victor of Paris speaks 
thus : When any thing required im- 
mediate discourse, the Precentor led 
the persons to the Parlour, who briefly 
explained themselves. No one was to 
enter it, unless called by the Abbot or 
Prior. The latter, the Sub-prior, and 
Officers, came, however, without li- 
cense to converse upon business, but 
not the Claustrals. The servants, in- 
troduced there for any necessary or- 
ders or information, were not to sit 
down, or make any stay ; and those 
who had license, were not to sit long, 
or be more than four at a time. No 
strange Monk or Canon was to be 
brought into the regular Locutory to 
converse, only those of the house, 
with license, who were not to talk 
elsewhere. No Claustral could come 
into the other Locutories, without 
summons from the Abbot or Prior. 
There was a forensic Locutory, where 
Monks and Nuns could converse with 
Seculars ; the Sacrists Locutory, Lo- 
cutories in the Church for Confession, 
and others , b — Davies says, the Locu- 
tory was the place where merchants 
used to expose their wares. After 
dinner was the time allowed for con- 
versation ; c but, in consequence of 



a v. Auditorium. 

b Du Cange, v. Locutorium. 

c Post prandium, supplicandum pro peccatis scil. 
eorum quorum eleemosynis sustentatur, si forte 
vocatur ad colloquium secundum regulam, levi- 
ter et sine risu pauca verba et rationabilia loquatur. 
MS. Harl. 103. f. 114. b. 



abuses, for the Monks used to talk 
nothing but trifles, raillery, and small 
talk, d meditations and reading were 
substituted instead. e The Minuti had 
an indulgence of going to the Locu- 
tory of the guests to converse imme- 
diately after refection and grace, and 
from complin to curfew. f Entrance to 
the parlour, both in Monks and Nuns, 
was very seldom allowed, except when 
necessary for taking venue ; s or to say 
any thing which could not be explained 
by a sign. A sign was made at the 
door, and then, if permitted, they en- 
tered, and not more than two together, 
unless it was needful, talked together 
with the Prior at reading-time. When 
their business was over, they departed 
immediately. Conversation was also 
allowed with visitors of a certain kind. 
The Nun who took the venice, when 
many were assembled to confess, sat. 
Those sat too who talked with the 
guests and scrutatrices. No one 
could enter there unasked, when the 
Prioress was conversing with any one. 
In the Parlour too the Nuns were 
taught standing the exposition of the 
rule. h The constitutions of those of 
Sopewell order them not to converse 
with Seculars unless their necks and 
faces were covered with a kercheif and 
veil. 

In the Nuns' Parlour was a grating 
covered with a curtain, not to be re- 
moved but when a person spoke to 
them, or they received the commu- 
nion, which was administered in the 
Parlour. 1 



d Bern. Dev. Vie Mon. iii. 147. 

e M. Paris, 1095. "After dinner read or hear 
somewhat of holy scripture." MS. Cott. Cleop. 
E. iv. f. 23. a. 

f M. Paris, 1043, 1045. 

£ Pardons for the omission of duties, &c. Monast. 
ii. 767, &c. &c. &c. 

h Monast. ii. 731, 769. 

1 Du Cange, v. Gratis. 



244 



ALMONRY, 



CHAPTER XLII, 



ALMONRY. 



The Almonry was sometimes a stone 
house near the Church. a This was 
its proper and usual situation, from 
the connection of charity and religion. b 
Alms-houses are still common in 
Church-yards. Some Abbots have 
been reproached for moving it to the 
gate, in order to get rid of the poor 
from the Refectory doors after din- 
ner. We hear of Priests' halls, and 
various edifices annexed to Almonries. d 
The alms were, according to Basils in 
the application of them, an exclusive 
concern of the superior ; e and it seems 
they thought so; for they bestowed 
them upon their secular kindred and 
acquaintance/ They were, says Lynd- 
wood,s generally to be given to per- 
sons unable to work, or kindred, be- 
cause we are directed to provide for 
our own house first ; according to 
which principle Henry enjoined, that 
none of the brethren " send any parte 
of his meate, or the levynge thereof, 
to any person ; " but that the alms 
should be collected with special con- 
sideration of ei soche before other as be 
kinnesfolke to any of the said breth- 
ren." 1 * A preference was also to be 
made of piety and utility, as well as 



a Monast. i. 273. 

b Du Cange, v. Matricula. 

c Grose, under Reading Abbey. 

d Ang. Sacr.i. 143. 

• Dev. Vie Mon. ii. 91. 
' Monast. i. 418, 471. 

« P. 209. 

* MS. Cott. Cleop, E. iv. f. 22. a. 



the degree of connection with the 
house, whence proceeded the custom 
of maintaining from them certain poor 
children, who went there to learn 
grammar. After all, there was no 
certain rule, but discretion ; and a 
common religious could give them, if 
he saw any one likely to perish with 
hunger, though his Abbot forbid it, be- 
cause he was to obey God more than 
man. 1 Beer was brought into the 
Refectory to give to the poor; k dif- 
ferent allowances were made at differ- 
ent festivals ; l the distribution of the 
alms at Glastonbury, and most other 
houses, on Wednesdays and Fridays. m 
It seems that the obedientiaries and 
others were in the habits of thus sup- 
porting their servants, especially the 
Almoners, who are charged with giving 
the alms to their workmen or out-door 
servants. 11 Certain scholars (the chil- 
dren alluded to by Lyndwood) had 
constant residence in the Almonry of 
St. Augustine, Canterbury ; and the 
poor and sick flocked to it from all 
quarters. The whole revenues of cer- 
tain churches, besides the Abbot's 
alms, were devoted to it. The Tenth 
of all the Monastic proceeds was to be 
given in alms to the poor.P 



1 Lyndw. ut sup. 

k M. Par. 1095. 

* Monast. i. 149. 

m Reyn. 224. 

n M. Par. 1094. C. G. North. a° 1343. c. x. & 

1444, c. vii. 

W. Thorne, 1801. 

p Du Cange, v. Eleemosynarius. 



LIBRARY. 



245 



CHAPTER XLIIL 



LIBRARY — MUSEUM. 



This place was under the care of the 
Chantor, as well as the muniments of 
the house. He could neither sell, 
pawn, or lend the books, without an 
equal or more than equivalent pledge ; 
he might, however, with respect to 
neighbouring Churches, or persons of 
consideration, relax somewhat of the 
strictness of this rule. a It seems that, 
on a new foundation, the king some- 
times sent letters patent b to the dif- 
ferent Abbeys, requesting them to give 
the new religious theological books ; 
though these were only perhaps for 
the use of the Church; and he gave 
them sometimes himself. Duplicates 
and triplicates of the same work were 
imported.* 1 The catalogues of their 
Libraries, of which several exist, were 
very artificial, pedantic, and whimsical, 
as will appear from the following ac- 
count of that of Dover Priory, made 
in the year 1389. e " Note, first, says 



a Bibliotheca erit sub cantoris custodia, omnes 
ecclesise cartse cantori, &c. assignatse. Cantor non 
potuit libros accommodare, nisi pignore, qui tanti 
vel majoris fuerit reposito, &c. MS. Cott. Claud. 
B. vi.f.l91.b. 

b 55 H. III. m. 24. Monast. i. 936. 

c Monast. ii. 924. 

d Du Cange, v. Pandecta. 

e Primo quod tota hsec bibliotlieca in novem 
separatis distinctionibus secundum novem primas 
alphabeti literas, literas ipsis distinctionibus paten- 
ter affixas dividitur. Quia vero in multis volumi- 
nibus plures continentur tractatus, nomina ipsorum 
tractatuum licet non semper congrue baptisatorum 
in singulis voluminibus poscebuntur, et figura nu- 
meralium algorismi ipsis nominibus, designans 
folium in quo tractatus ipse incipiat, coasequenter 
apponitur, cum A litera vel B, protinus subjuncta 
hac parte. Ipsa etiam volumina singula non solum 
exterius in tegimine verum etiam interius juxta no- 
mina contentorum in sui principio affixas habent 
literas suas distinctionales ; modica figura algoris- 
malis includituv per quam quotus sit liber in ordine 
locationis gradus memorati plenius declaratur. In 
secundo aut tertio, vel quarto folio voluminum, vel 
prope illud in margine inferiori, pnemissis iterum 
literis distinctionalibus, et figuris gradualibus prse- 
dictis, nomen voluminis inseritur, et post modico 
spacio dimissum quo modo folium illud, quod pro- 
batorium cognitionis dicetur, incipiat, protinus titu- 
latur : quotque folia in ipso toto volumine conti- 



the preface, that the whole of this 
Library is divided into nine separate 
distinctions, according to the nine first 
letters of the alphabet, the letters 
being affixed to the distinctions. Be- 
cause, however, many tracts are con- 
tained in many volumes, the names of 
those tracts, although not always suit- 
ably christened, will be required in 
every volume, and the figure, of the 
numbers of the Algorism, marking the 
leaf in which the tract begins, is con- 
sequently affixed to the titles, with the 
letter A or B immediately added, so 
that A may designate the first side of 
the leaf, and B the second. Each 
volume itself, not only outwardly in 
the cover, but inwardly according to 
the names of its contents, has its dis- 
tinctional letters affixed to the begin- 
ning of it, and a small algorismal figure 
is added by which what the book is in 
the order of its place in the above gra- 
dation is more fully declared. In the 
second, or third, or fourth leaf of the 
volumes, or near it in the lower mar- 
gin, the aforesaid distinctional letters 
and gradual figures being again pre- 
mised, the name of the volume is in- 
serted, and afterwards being in a little 
time dismissed, how the leaf begins, 
which may be called the touchstone of 
knowledge, is immediately entitled; 
the first number of the algorism then 
following, tells how many leaves are 
contained in the whole volume ; and 
another number instantly adjoined, the 

neatur, primus numerus algorismi tunc sequens 
declarabit, adjunctus protinus ibidem finaliter nu- 
merus alius figatur [figitur], numerum[que] ejus- 
dem voluminis contentorum tractatuum pandit 
manifeste. Prsemissis igitur retentis, memoriae 
finaliter commendatis, patebit manifeste quibus 
distinctione gradu loco vel ordine singula volumina 
totius bibliothecae debent collocari, quibusque foliis 
et foliorum lateribus singulorum principia tracta- 
tuum poterint reperiri. MS. Bodl. 3012, in pnef. 
[Upon every statute that is abrygid in any of the 
chapyters of this boke be set figures of algorisme.] 
Herbert's Ames, i, 479. 



246 



LIBRARY. 



tracts contained in the volume. When 
these premises are committed to me- 
mory, it will plainly appear in what 
distinction, degree, place, or order, 
every ^volume of the Library should be 
placed, and in what leaves, or sides of 
leaves, the beginnings of the tracts 
may be found." 

Leland^s story a of the Library of 
the Franciscans at Oxford has been 
often told; it was only accessible to 
the Warden and Bachelors of divi- 
nity ; was full of cobwebs, moths, and 
filth ; and contained no books of 
value, the best having been surrepti- 
tiously carried away. The custom of 
chaining books, which I saw retained 
at Magd. Coll. Library, Oxon, was 
very ancient. We are told by Euse- 
bius b that the Roman Senate in the 
time of Claudius, ordered Philo- 
Judseus^s treatise of the Impiety of 
Caligula, to be chained in the publick 
Library as a famous monument. 

The magnificent Roman Libraries 
were paved with marble, and orna- 
mented with gold ; the walls were co- 
vered with glass and ivory; the presses j 
for the books were made of cedar and 
ebony, c and carried as high as the 
roof. Though the books were in rolls, 
they had elegant fronts and titles. d 
The booksellers 5 shops had pillars, on 
which were inscribed the names of the 
works for sale, and the books were 
kept in nidi, drawers or pigeon-holes, 
the best in the upper, the worst in the 



lower. e — Among the Egyptian Monk 
the books were kept in a window, f by 
which I suppose, is meant a cup- 
board arched in the wall, which was 
the depository among the Britons,^ 
and appears centuries after in the 
frontispiece of Trivet's Annals. The 
Monasteries had painted presses or 
almeries. h Chests were also used, 1 
and shelves. k Glass-globes, like orre- 
ries, before mentioned (Ch. I.) have 
been found at Herculaneum, 1 and are 
mentioned by Ingulphus, as occurring 
in Monastic Libraries. 

As from the variety of knowledge 
interspersed in scholars' books, and 
the vast bulk and quantity of such 
books in the world, the merit of every 
compilation both does now, and must 
in future, depend much and unavoid- 
ably upon indexes, I shall, as far as 
lies in me, present to the respect of 
the public an Ayscough or Wanley of 
Antiquity, John Brome, Prior of 
Gorlestone, who, in the fifteenth cen- 
tury, put indexes to almost all the 
books in his library." 3 The proportion 
in which the Monks cultivated the re- 
spective sciences appears, from a cur- 
sory enumeration, sufficiently accurate 
for this purpose, of the works of 
authors in Bale, to have been nearly 
this: Divinity, 175; Scholastic Lite- 
rature, 89 ; Epistles, Controversy, 
Miscellanies, 65 ; History, 54 ; Bio- 
graphy, 32 ; Arts, Mathematics, Astro- 
logy, &c. 31 ; Philosophy, 14 ; Law, 6. 



APPENDIX. 



Disquisitions upon Monastic Litera- 
ture have been given by Mosheim, 
Warton, and others, but they are all 
treated in reference to modern think- 
ing. The following merely respect 
contemporary ideas, and taste. They 
show undeniably that the state of 



* De Scriptor. p. 286. 

b B. 2, ch. 13. 

c Astle's Writing, Introd. vii. L. p, 197. 

d Seneca de Tranquillit, c. 9. 



mind was very contemptible, as to 
literature properly so called, though 
in the mechanical arts there was much 
excellence : but that is no proof of 
civilization. 



e Martial L. i. Ep. 118. 

* Regul. Pachom. C. 82. 

b M. Paris, 994. 

5 Du Cange, v. Libellare. 

k Ancient illuminations. 

1 Barthelemy's Tour in, Italy. 

m Bale, 1st ed. f. 194. 



* Ibid. 1038. 



LIBRARY. 



247 



Divinity. It has been elsewhere 
rioted^ that the study of Theology was 
presumed to confer the gift of Pro- 
phecy. Divinity consisted in forced 
and ridiculous allegorical interpreta- 
tions of the Scriptures ; a and these 
and other religious works of the most 
bizarre kind were thought to expiate 
sins. In 1435, a Shearer of cloth in 
France, and a great lover of Tennis, 
wrote a ballad upon that game. When 
he was old and sick in bed, he wished 
by another kind of writing to expiate 
his sins, and had his work reviewed by 
a Dominican. He accordingly alle- 
gorized the game of Tennis. The wall, 
he says, means faith, which ought to 
have a solid foundation, and in other 
parts of the game he finds the Cardinal 
Virtues, the Evangelists, active and 
contemplative life, the Old and New 
Law, &c. b It is a most insipid pro- 
duction : but not more so than innu- 
merable volumes of Divinity manu- 
scripts. 

Philosophy, Arts, §c. In the 13th 
Century, Onions, the Lucretius of his 
day, wrote a singular work entitled 
The Picture of the World, in which are 
passages strongly illustrative of the 
Philosophy of the Middle Age. In 
the Metaphysical department, by ma- 
terials borrowed from Thales, Anax- 
agoras, Epicurus, and Plato, God is made 
an idle being, who, when he created 
matter, also created Nature, who, he 
says, executes the will of God, as the 
ax in the hands of the carpenter, but 
sometimes makes deformities, through 
want or excess of matter, because the 
more the latter abounds, the more she 
works ; and if it be wanting, she stands 
still. The Liberal Arts he divides 
into the usual septenary arrangement, 
adopted so early as the fifth Century 
by Marcianus Capella. Alcuinus had 
done the same in the eighth Century, 
with no other difference, than includ- 



ing Arithmetick, Geometry, Musick, 
and Astronomy, under the general 
term of Mathematicks. Omons makes 
Arithmetick, not the mere science of 
numbers, but the knowledge of every 
thing which has produced any regular 
order whatever ; and Rhetorick in- 
cludes judicial verdicts, decretals, laws, 
&c. The term liberal was only applied 
to an art which exclusively appertained 
to the mind; and therefore Medicine, 
Painting, Sculpture, Navigation, the 
Military Art, and Architecture, though 
in their theories as intellectual as 
Arithmetick and Astronomy are, be- 
cause applicable to bodily purposes, de- 
nominated mere trades. The term 
Philosophers means only men versed 
in the occult sciences of nature, for 
Plato is called the Sovereign of Philo- 
sophers, merely because he had dis- 
covered traces of the Trinity in the 
Unity of God ; and among the later 
Philosophers, no one was so eminent 
as Virgil. This was not the Mantuan 
Bard, but an ugly lame Italian, who 
performed feats of legerdemain: These 
were an inextinguishable lamp ; a long 
bridge, which supported itself, without 
being propped in any of its parts ; a 
speaking head, which pronounced ora- 
cles, and answered questions put to it; 
an impenetrable garden, enclosed only 
by a wall of air; a brass fly, which 
when it found in the room a living fly, 
flew upon it and killed it; a brazen 
horse, d of such virtue, that sick horses, 
who looked upon it, were instantly- 
cured ; and lastly an egg, in which was 
built a very large town, which fell to 
pieces when the egg was moved, but 
in a moment afterwards re-established 
itself. [These are important details, 
for they throw light upon the best ex- 
isting picture of Oriental manners, the 
exquisite " Arabian Nights," the first 
tales of fiction in the World.] Our 
Author says, that whoever thoroughly 



a The lessons in the Portiforium of Sarurn, the 
proems of the Saints' Lives in the Golden Legend, 
show, amidst innumerable authorities, that this 
quibbling divinity lasted for many ages. 

b Notices, v. 157. 



c Ignorance of this distinction has produced in- 
conceivable confusion in writers upon mediaeval 
subjects. 

d The wooden horses, flying by turning a peg, 
are fictions, formed upon ships with rudders. The 
Anglo-Saxons called ships, sea horses. 



248 



LIBRARY. 



understood Astrology, might effect 
things, which though natural, would ap- 
pear miraculous to the rest of mankind. 
An adept in this science might have 
during life all that he could desire. a It 
is certain, that the Ancients did believe a 
miraculous power to be conferred upon 
material substances, by various modi- 
fications of them under certain astrolo- 
gical signs. In an old Magical MS. 
of the 14th Century, b are the following 
processes. " When you wish to pro- 
voke a girl to follow you : make an 
image of a woman, under the second 
face of Cancer, of tin, and touch the 
girl you wish with it, and she will fol- 
low you.' 5 And again, i: IVJien you 
ivish to enter where there are dogs, that 
they may not hinder you, make a tin 
image of a dog, whose head is erected 
towards his tail, under the first face of 
Sagittary, and say over it, I bind all 
dogs by this image, that they do not 
raise their heads nor bark ; and enter 
where you please." The fallacy of all 
this is conspicuous ; but failure did 
not produce contempt, because, as ap- 
pears from Grostheacl's brazen head, 
it was ascribed to error in the astrolo- 
gical process. It is however certain, 
that automata were very commonly 
made in the fourteenth Century ; that 
speaking through heads and statues is 
a very easy and old trick ; (1 that the 
construction of whispering galleries 
shows a fondness for such deceptions ; 
and that the feats ascribed to Virgil, 
are only hyperbolical exaggerations of 
mechanical ingenuity or legerdemain ! 
Slight of hand, or TJiaumaturgicks, was 



a Notices, v. 246—256. 

b Presented to me by Edw. Wilbraham, Esq. of 
Cirencester. In it is a process for raising the 
devil. 

e Cum volueris provocare puellam ut sequaris te, 
fac imaginem mulieris sub 2da facie Cancri ex 
stanno, et tange cum ea quam volueris, et obediet 
tibi. 

Cum volueris intrar'e uli canes sunt, ut non 
impcdiant te, fac imaginem canis stanneam, cujus 
caput sit ad caudam erectum, sub prima facie Sa- 
gittarii, et die super id, ligo omnes canes per hanc 
imaginem, ut non erigant capita sua, nee latrent ; 
et intra ubi volueris. 

d See Beckman's excellent paper on Jugglers, &c. 
Inventions, hi. 293—337. 



called Mechanica, and a part of Necro- 
mancy. 6 

Natural History — Medicine. Jerom 
in S. Hilarion, says, " A dragon of 
wonderful magnitude, which the Dal- 
matians in their native language call 
Boas, because they are so large that 
they can swallow oxen/ 5 Hence it 
should seem, that the boa snake may 
have given birth to the fiction of dra- 
gons/ 

The coup de soleil appears to have- 
been ascribed to a daemon, called 
dcemon meridianus.% 

Geography. This abounds with 
marvellous accounts, from which are 
borrowed many of the exquisite fic- 
tions of the "Arabian Nights/' In 
the year 1545, was published at Ant- 
werp the Cosmography of Peter Apia- 
nus, expurgated, from all faults by 
Gemma Frisius, a physician and ma- 
thematician of Louvain. It is suffi- 
cient to say, that in this correct ex- 
purgated work, Scotland is an island, 
of which York is one of the chief 
cities. h 

History. The fugitive Trojans, and 
their descendants, not only com- 

i menced the Empires of Italy and 
Great Britain, but also that of France. 
A Priam junior, nephew of the old 
Trojan King, in union with Antenor, 
founded Venice, which last shortly 
afterwards separated himself from his 

I companion, and established Padua. 

| At his death, his troop, like strolling 

j players, removed again, and settled in 
Germany, where finding a third Priam, 
descended from the Venetian, they 
chose him for King. 1 Thus there was 
no conscientious restriction from mix- 
ing favourite hypotheses with history, 
as serious truths. 

History is in general a dry diary of 
incidents, and yet, acknowledging the 
elegant Latinity of Malmesbury, a pro- 



e Du Cange, v. Mechanica. 
i Du Cange, v. Boa. 
£ Du Cange. 
h Fol. 44. b. 

5 Tresor de Brunetto Latini, MS. Bibl. Na< 
j tional, Paris. Notices, v. 273. 



LIBRARY. 



249 



fessed imitator of Livy in his national 
histories, and the interesting descrip- 
tions of Froissart, the chivalrous vo- 
tary of heroic love and pleasure, is 
rather adapted to reference than read- 
ing. Except the last author, they are 
uniformly ill-natured writers. The ap- 
parent original of their style, in mixing 
and relating the private affairs of their 
Abbeys, &c. is the family narrative of 
the classical Actuarius, or historio- 
grapher, who was called in to read and 
recite to the company. a The only 
qualification required was that of a 
senior class school-boy, an ability to 
write grammatical Latin ; and even he 
would not have dared to show to his 
master the following sentence, that " if 
night had not terminated the battle, 
they would have all been shaved with 
the razor of death /* b What a frigid 
unintelligible simile is this ! " Fore- 
thoughts are like gnats/' c Gothic Ar- 
chitecture is the only sublime inimitable 
monument of the Middle Age, but it 
was a trade, and the Monks did not 
know, that nothing great in the Arts 
can be produced without intercourse 
with society; for solitude and single 
mind is debarred from the division of 
labour, is satisfied like Crusoe, having 
only itself to gratify, with rude expe- 
dient, nor could have a motive, where 
superstitious mortification was suffi- 
cient. What was excellent, was in- 
tended to bias the public mind, and no 
other motive is adequate to the pro- 
duction of the great in any thing. d A 
solitary, though often a mere selfish 
man, is under numerous circumstances, 
a wise, a happy, and with reading 



a See the form of these in Petronius, i. 162. Ed. 
Nodot. 

b Qui profecto, nisi nox prselium diremisset, 
omnes mortis novacula abrasi fuissent. Gemmeti- 
censis inter Camdeni Scriptores, p. 669. 

c Du Cange, v. Rebones. 

d An opinion directly opposite has been given. 
The Chartreux of Ferrara had very fine paintings 
in their Churches ; and excellent prints adorned 
most of the cells of Monks of this Order. The 
Author regrets, that painting and engraving were 
not labours imposed on these Monks, because the 
concentration of ideas in solitude and other results 
might produce chef-d'oeuvres. Observat. gur 
Vltalie, torn. i. 361. 



habits, which inculcate only what is 
good, a virtuous and enviable one, for 
Book-ivorms never know ennui. The 
Monks, however, must not be deprived 
of the chief merit in this Architecture. 
In building Roslyn Chapel, the founder 
caused drawings to be made upon 
boards, which being carved accordingly 
by carpenters, were given as patterns 
to the masons. e This, no doubt, the 
Monks often did, and after a common 
practice of even Bishops/ carried 
mortar, and worked themselves. 

Latin language. This, always con- 
sidered a universal language, because 
immutable, was deemed an essential 
qualification,^ but how far with general 
success, may be determined from the 
errors condemned in the University by 
Peacham. These are, — 

1. Ego currit is good Latin. 

2. Currit, legit, is as perfect speech 
as curro, lego. 

3. Sum ego is as good as Ego sum. 

4. Socrates leg ere : and so in every 
case. h 

Who would suppose that such bar- 
barous words as Honorificabilitudo, and 
Honor ijicabilitudhutas, for Dignity or 
a term of address to Sovereigns, were 
words in serious use ; yet they occur in 
the twelfth century, at least in Italy. 1 

Philosophers, who accede to the 
high reason and noble sentiment of the 
Classical Authors, cannot eulogize the 
learned languages in the warm style of 
Linguists and Philologists. If a lan- 
guage, as is the euphonous and versa- 
tile Greek, with even the advantage of 
an alphabet founded upon modifications 
of the voice, cannot be elegantly or 
correctly written by a modern, during 
the study of a whole fife, its construc- 
tion must be as bad as the Chinese, in 
the opinions of all who consider lan- 
guage as a convenient means of expe- 
diting science and business, not a cum- 
brous, however ingenious machine, 



e Britton's Architectural Antiquities, hi. 51. 

t M. Par. 171. « Angl. Sacr. i. 761. 

h MS. Wood, in Mus. Ashmol. 8563. prs. 2. 
p. 12. 

1 Du Cange in vocibus, from Muratori and 
Ugtrolli. 



250 



LIBRARY. 



impeding both. Such, however, is the 
influence produced by the fine senti- 
ment of the Greek writers, that deep 
Grecians are commonly very excellent 
men. The perfection of the mental 
powers certainly existed in the Morea; 
and the steam-engine of their language 
was easily worked by them : but then 
only because it was native. It is in- 
dispensable to construe the Classicks 
fluently, because mind is not to be 
formed in any other school. But 
French, or grammatical literal Latin, 
better perhaps, as a safer and far easier 
substitute for universal language, ought 
to supersede writing in elegant Latin, 
because it is productive of obscurity, 
and is confined to scholars. 

The advantage of using terminations 
instead of prepositions, though it may 
be convenient for versification 3 is far 
beneath that of juxta-position of the 
words; and is limited to sound, not 
sense. The very alphabets of the learn- 
ed languages have not the ingenuity of 
the curves and lines of short hand, 
because founded upon scientific prin- 
ciples, much less of the Chemical No- 
menclature ; and Home Tooke has ex- 
posed the ignorance of real grammar. 
Selden has justly observed, that the 
Monkish Law Latin is better, because 
more intelligible and preservatory, than 
idiomatic style; and Professor Stewart 
adds, " The deranged collocation of 
the words in Latin composition ren- 
ders that language an inconvenient 
medium of philosophical communica- 
tion, as well as an inconvenient instru- 
ment of accurate thought.** a 

Classicks and Versification. The 
Church permitted no ideas that were 
not dogmas dictated by itself. Study 
of the Classicks and Mythology were 
reprobated by Aldhelm as tending to 
corruption of manners ; b and he is not 
singular, the Heathen Gods being de- 
bauchees. In the 13th century, Homer 
was the only Greek poet known/ 1 



a Philosophy of the Human Mind, p. 201. 

b Angl. Sacr. ii. 14. c Ibid. ii. 249. 

d Notices des MSS. v. 502. The Greek lan- 
guage was never wholly extinct in Italy, but in the 
14th century, there were scarcely six persons who 



In the Chronique dTdace, a manu- 
script of the eleventh century, more 
than 200 verses are extracted from 
different authors, as Virgil, Ovid, Juve- 
nal, &c. ranged in order, apparently 
for no other reason, but to determine 
the prosodial quantity. e False quan- 
tities are too common to need illustra- 
tion ; but notwithstanding the evident 
pains bestowed upon the study of con- 
struction, they terminate Pentameters 
with adjectives. f In the beginning of 
the 14th century there were only four 
Classicks in the Royal Library at Paris, 
Cicero, Ovid, Lucan, and Boethius.s 
In the catalogues given by Leland of 
Abbatial Libraries, there are only the 
following Classicks, Cicero and Aris- 
totle (common), Terence, Euclid, Q. 
Curtius, Sidonius Apollinaris, Jul.Fron- 
tinus, Apuleius, and Seneca. 11 From 
this disregard of the Classicks, not the 
shameful destruction only of the Mo- 
nastic Libraries at the dissolution, 
probably ensued that loss of the Decades 
of Livy, &c. which has been so justly 
lamented. 1 

The extreme ignorance of classical 
habits is conspicuous by the following 
account of the Colisaum. Bede pro- 
phesied., that while the Colisseum last- 
ed Rome would stand, but when that 

had even a slight knowledge of it. Mem. de Pe- 
trarque, i. 405, 406. 

e Ibid. v. 231. 

f See an instance in Angl. Sacr. i. 513. 

s Nichols's Appendix to the History of Leices- 
ter, i. p. 107, n. 6. 

h Collect, iii. T. 17. 28. 54. 60. 66. 159. 

1 I give here the admirable remarks of Petrarch 
upon the utility of profane literature in ecclesiasti- 
cal studies. " I know by experience how much 
human learning may contribute to give just notions, 
to make a man eloquent, perfect his morals, and 
what is more, defend religion. If it be not per- 
mitted to read the poets and heathen authors, be- 
cause they do not speak of Christ, whom the) did 
not know, with how much more reason ought we 
to prohibit heretical works; yet the defenders of 
the faith studiously peruse them. Profane litera- 
ture, like certain solid aliments, does not hurt a 
good stomach, only a weak one. Reading, whole- 
some for a sound mind, is a poison to a feeble in- 
tellect. I know tbat letters are no obstacles to 
holiness, as some pretend. There are many roads 
to heaven ; Ignorance is that which the idle take : 
the Sciences may produce as many saints as Igno- 
rance : and surely we ought not to compare an 
ignorant devotion to an enlightened piety.'' 1 Mem, 
de Petrarque, iii. 606. 



LIBRARY. 



251 



fell Rome would fall, and with Rome, 
the World. This famous Amphitheatre 
is described as a place, where were the 
images of all the ^provinces, and that 
of Rome in the middle, holding a golden 
apple, as Queen of all; which images 
were so disposed by necromancy, that 
if any province wished to rebel, the 
image of Rome immediately turned its 
back upon that provinces 

Works of Humour. Irony and Satire 
are quite common ; but otherwise pro- 
fessed works of wit, turn chiefly upon 
practical jokes, coarse indecency ^ or 
ludicrous adventures. Now and then 
a good pun occurs, and ingenious quib- 
bles. I met with the following epi- 
gram in a MS. of the Ashmole Library, 
of which I have never seen a copy; 
but as it was in a collection, made in 
the 16th century, of Poems, I cannot 
tell its age. 

Marriage, saith one, hath oft compared bin 
Unto a fest, where meet a public rout, 

Where those, that are without, would fain get in, 
And those, that are within, would fain get out. 

Bulls, &)C. These blunders owe their 
use to a warmth of feeling, prompting 
a rapidity of utterance, by which, time 
not being allowed for reflection, one 
idea trips up the heels of another. In 
print, however, such errors are ex- 
ceedingly rare. In the Acta Sancto- 
rum, a narrow place is described, where 
a person could not stand except by 
lying* 

Acrosticks were known to the Greeks/ 
but the Monks used hieroglyphical 
kinds, impossible to be divined. In 
hollow stonework over the kitchen 
chimney in Kingswood Abbey, Wilts, 
is a J'yger, ^eart, ostrich, mermaid, ess, 
and swan, for the founder's christian 
name, Thomas, e 

a Du Cange, v. Colisamm. 

b The Monks were the most bitter censors of 
Boccacio, because he exposed them ; for it is cer- 
tain, that the most licentious of the tales in the 
Decameron, were found in Conventual Libraries, 
and taken by him from thence. Vannozzi, how- 
ever, says truly, " It would frighten us to know 
how many harlots the Decameron has produced." 

c Quia aliter stare non poterat, nisi jacendo. 
Du Cange, v. Estramea. 

d Antholog. 1. i. c. 28. 

e Parsoas's MSS. in Bibl. Bodl, f. 91. 



Poetry. Under this term ought never 
to be included mere strings of un- 
idea'd verses; for no sensible man reads 
poetry in general. It is immersion in 
a cold bath. The Antiocheis of Joseph 
Ischam, and the Virgil of Gawin Doug- 
las, are as admirable in the heroic, as 
Chaucer is in Horatian vivacity and 
terseness; though the versification of 
neither is classical, nor the language 
pure, nor the taste correct. Poor War- 
ton/ deprived of preferment, because 
he had not that ponderous gravity, re- 
sembling the benumbing property of 
the torpedo, which Englishmen reve- 
rence, and enlightened foreigners de- 
spise, under the name of Tristitia, has 
the following exquisite passage, given 
for its beauty. " The customs, insti- 
tutions, traditions, and religion, of the 
Middle Ages, were favourable to Poetry. 
Their pageants, processions, spectacles, 
and ceremonies, were friendly to ima- 
gery, to personification, and allegory. 
Ignorance and Superstition, so oppo- 
site to the real interests of human so- 
ciety, are the parents of Imagination. 
The* very devotion of the Gothic times 
was romantic. The Catholic worship, 
besides that its numerous exterior ap- 
pendages were of a picturesque and 
even of a poetical nature, disposed the 
mind to a state of deception, and en- 
couraged, or rather authorized, every 
species of credulity. Its visions, mi- 
racles, and legends, propagated a gene- 
ral propensity to the marvellous, and 
strengthened the belief of spectres, 
demons, witches, and incantations. 
These illusions were heightened by 
churches of a wonderful mechanism, 
and constructed on such principles of 
inexplicable architecture, as had a ten- 
dency to impress the soul with every 
false sensation of religious fear. The 
savage pomp and the capricious he- 
roism of the baronial manners were 



f Mr. Douce has excellently defended this ill- 
used Scholar, " whose literary body'' (to use the 
expression, from Shakespeare, of the Author of 
the Pursuits of Literature) " had been punched full 
of deadly holes" in a very ill-natured way. Minis- 
ters sneered at Warburton for recommending him. 
for preferment ! 



252 



LIBRARY. 



replete with incident, adventure, and 
enterprize ; and the untractable genius 
of the feudal policy, held forth those 
irregularities of conduct, discordancies 
of interest, and dissimilarities of situa- 
tion, that framed rich materials for the 
Minstrel Muse. The tacit compact of 
fashion, which promotes civility, by 
diffusing habits of uniformity, and 
therefore destroys peculiarities of cha- 
racter and situation, had not yet ope- 
rated upon life, nor had domestic con- 
venience abolished unwieldy magnifi- 
cence. Literature and a better sense 
of things, not only banished these bar- 
barities, but superseded the mode of 
composition, which was formed upon 
them. Romantic poetry gave way to 
the force of Reason and Inquiry; as its 
own inchanted palaces and gardens in- 
stantaneously vanished, when the Chris- 
tian champion displayed the shield of 
Truth and baffled the charms of the 
Necromancer. The study of the Clas- 
sicks, together with a colder Magick 
and a tamer Mythology, introduced 
method into composition ; and the uni- 
versal ambition of rivalling those new 
patterns of excellence, the faultless 
models of Greece and Rome, produced 
that bane of invention, Imitation. Eru- 
dition was made to act upon Genius ; 
Fancy was weakened by Reflection and 
Philosophy. The fashion of treating 
everything scientifically, applied specu- 
lation and theory to the arts of writing. 
Judgment was advanced above Imagi- 
nation, and rules of Criticism were 
established. The brave eccentricities 
of original Genius, and the daring har- 
diness of native thought, were intimi- 
dated by metaphysical sentiments of 
perfection and refinement. Setting 
aside the consideration of the more 
solid advantages, which are obvious, 
and are not the distinct subject of our 
contemplation at present, the lovers of 
true Poetry will ask, what have we 
gained by this revolution ? It may be 
answered, much good sense, good taste, 
and good criticism ; but in the mean 
time, we have lost a set of manners, 
and a system of machinery more suitable 



to the purposes of poetry, than those 
which have been adopted in their place. 
We have parted with extravagances 
that are above propriety, with incredi- 
bilities that are more acceptable than 
truth, and with fictions that are more 
valuable than reality." 

The « Scottish Chiefs » of Miss Por- 
ter, an exquisite Epic Poem, (though 
denominated a Romance), which has 
not been equalled for years, is entirely 
founded upon chivalrous ideas in war 
and love. It appears to be a work, 
which, for a continual support of the 
sublime in the two leading characters, 
is superior to any thing ever written : 
it is the only modern work which 
shows the elevation of soul produced 
by Warton's Middle Age ideas. Mil- 
ton or Virgil do not surpass it in sen^ 
timent. 

Mr. Nichols has made the following 
excellent remarks, upon the Library of 
Leicester Abbey : " From this cata- 
logue it seems rather doubtful, whether 
in the Library of this religious house, 
there might be any one complete col- 
lection of all the Holy Scriptures. Sup- 
posing Biblie, in the first article, to 
have included both the Old and the 
New Testaments, it was a tome defec- 
tive and worn. The second consisted 
of each book of the Old Testament 
only; and the third of the Gospels, 
without any mention of the Acts of 
the Apostles, of the Epistles, or of the 
Apocalypse. There is however, a se- 
parate mention of " Actus Aplor' gloss 5 , 
Apocalyps' gloss 5 , Eple Pauli [of no 
other Apostle] gloss', Eple Canonice," 
and among the last occurs the " Can- 
ticus Canticorum." Perhaps there 
might be some of those Augustine 
Monks, to whom the divine oracles in 
the learned languages would have been 
of little use ; and yet to these was not 
indulged a translation in English, there 
being in the Consistorial Acts at Ro- 
chester, the minutes of a rigid process 
against the Precentor of the Priory of 
that Cathedral, for retaining an En- 
glish Testament in disobedience to the 
general injunction of Cardinal Wolsey 



LIBRARY— MUSEUM. 



253 



to deliver up these prohibited books to 
the Bishops of the respective dioceses. 
Knighton, a Canon of St. Mary-le- 
Pre, has, to his own disgrace, recorded 
his bitter condemnation of the transla- 
tion made by his contemporary Wicliff 
(X Script, col. 2644). " Christ in- 
trusted his Gospel," says that Eccle- 
siastick, tc to the Clergy and Doctors 
of the Church, to minister it to the 
laity, and weaker sort, according to 
their exigences, and several occasions ; 
but this Master John Wicliff, by trans- 
lating it, has made it vulgar, and has 
laid it more open to the laity, and even 
to women, who can read, than it used 
to be to the most learned of the Clergy, 
and those of the best understanding; 
and thus the Gospel Jewel, the Evan- 
gelical feast, is thrown about, and 
trodden under feet of swine. ,J Such 
language, as an ingenious and learned 
Divine has justly observed, was looked 
upon as good reasoning by the Clergy 
of that day, who saw not with what 



satire it was edged against them- 
selves. 3 

Petrarch always carried all his books 
with him upon extra horses, when he 
made a long journey . b 

Towers were the most usual places 
for studies, and libraries. The Prior 
of Canterbury's study was a tower, 
next to his bed-room, but over his 
chapel was also a library for the use of 
the studious.* 1 

Museum. Adjoining to the Library, 
says Erasmus, was a certain small but 
elegant Museum, which, upon the re- 
moval of a board, exhibited a fire- 
place, if the weather proved coldj 
otherwise it seemed a solid wall. e Co- 
ryatt saw a stuffed crocodile in an 
Abbey S 

h Nichols's Appendix to the History of Leices- 
ter, vol. i. p. 108. 

b Memoires, &c. iii. 614. c Ibid. 616. 

d Angl. Sacr. i. 145. 

e Convivium Religios. Colloq. 142. 

f Crudities, i. 182. In Beckmann's Inventions, 
iii. 43, seq. is a history of Museums. 



254 



SCRIPTORIUM — DOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 



SCRIPTORIUM — DOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM, 



This is commonly called the Writing- 
room ; but by it was sometimes signi- 
fied a more remote place, not so des- 
tined to writing, but there was room 
for other employments. a The Abbot, 
Prior, Sub-prior, and Precentor, were 
the only persons admitted to the 
writers. There was an especial bene- 
diction of the Scriptorium. b Writing 
books as a Monastic employment is to 
be found in the earliest eeras. c Among 
British Monks, David had a study, or 
writing-room, and began the Gospel of 
St. John in golden letters with his 
own hands. d The Anglo-Saxon artists 
possessed eminent skill in the execu- 
tion of their books, e and the character 
which they used had the honour of 
giving rise to the modern small beauti- 
ful Roman letter/ But after the Nor- 
man Invasion, degeneracy of skill oc- 
casioned the manuscripts, subsequent 
to that period, to be of difficult read- 
ing. The missals, and other books of 
divine offices, were indeed curiously 
done, through extraordinary expence 
laid out upon works of this nature; 
and in compliance with an injunction, 
that no books should be brought into 
places of devotion, which could not be 
easily read. Such copies as were written 
in a larger hand were for more aged 
persons ; and those illuminated with 
extraordinary beauty for Nuns of su- 
perior quality, and other persons of 
distinction. Great caution was also 
observed in writing the Fathers and 
Classicks ; but the execution of books 
which concerned the National and Mo- 
nastic History was an object of small 



* Du Cange, v. Scriptorium. b Ibid. 

c Gruteri Spicileg. ii. 132. 

d Girald. Cambrens. in vita Davidis. Angl. Sacr. 
ii. 635. 

e Warton, Diss. Introd. Learning. 

{ Lowthorp's Abridgment of the Philosophical 
Transactions, iii. p. 2. p. 440, 1. 



concern, unless the books were intend- 
ed for presents.^ 

" The Antiquarii in Monasteries 
were industrious men, continually em- 
ployed in making new copies of old 
books, either for the use of the Mo- 
nastery, or for their own emolument. 
These writing Monks were distinguish- 
ed by the name of Antiquarii. They 
deprived the poor Librarii, or common 
Scriptores, of their business, so that 
they found it difficult to gain a sub- 
sistence for themselves and their fa- 
milies."" Thus Mr. Astle; but Du 
Cange says, that the Antiquarii were 
those Scribes, who repaired, composed, 
and re-wrote books, old and obsolete 
with age, in opposition to the Librarii, 
who wrote both new and old books.' 
Eccard junior says, those religious 
whom he found more dull at the study 
of letters, he employed in writing, and 
making lines. k It appears, that the 
Monastic Scribes were certain persons 
selected by the Abbot. 1 Boys and 
Juniors, says Du Cange, were espe- 
cially employed in writing; the elder 
Monks on the Church books. 01 The 
Boys or Juniors were undoubtedly em- 
ployed in letter writing, and matters 
which required expedition. All Monks 
were in fact instructed to write, if 
wanted, according to the statutes. In 
those of the Canons Regular are two 
verses specifying that they had simple 
girdles, tablets, comb, needle, thread, 



i Leland's Collect, vi. 77, 78. 

h Astle's Writing, p. 192. 

1 V. Antiquarius. Neither definition corre- 
sponds with the classical Antiquarii, who were, 
I. Inspectors of copyists, and keepers of the Anti- 
quarium, where the books were kept. II. Cice- 
roni. III. Purists, who affected old words. IV. 
Scholiasts. Encycl. des Antiquit. 

k Du Cange, v. Capitancs literce. 

1 Id. v. Scriptores. 

m Warton ubi supra. Du Cange, v. Scriptorium. 

n XV. Scriptores, 153. 



SCRIPTORIUM— BOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM, 



255 



a style, paper or parchment (chartas), 
ink, and a pen case. a Du Cange men- 
tions a singular kind of scribes, called 
Brodiatores, who wrote books, and 
letters, in the manner of Embroiderers, 
so lightly representing the object, that 
it almost escaped the sight. Perhaps 
Petrarch alludes to such writers in the 
following passage : " His writing was 
not wandering, nor loaded like that of 
writers, or rather painters of our age, 
who flatter the eye from afar, and 
fatigue it when near.'^ 

The writing instruments were pens, 
chalk, pumice stones for rubbing the 
parchment, pen-knives, other knives 
to scrape the parchment, a punctorium 
or awl to make dots, a plummet, a 
weight to keep the parchment down, a 
ruler, inkstands, a large knife for cut- 
ting the parchment, 6 and styles made 
of iron or bones/ 1 for the ancient mode 
of writing on wax sometimes obtained 
with respect to the tables of the offi- 
ciating Ministers of the Choir. e It is 
said that vellum had taken place of 
waxen tablets in the time of Alfred, 
and pens consequently succeeded to 
styles/ Metal pens were used.s In 
a MS. of Nigel Wireker at the British 
Museum, the vellum has the lines and 
numeration of the pages, in the same 
manner as the water-mark in paper. 
Large estates were set aside for the ex- 
pences of making books. h The custom 
of carrying a pen behind the ear, lately 
common, is ancient. In the life of S. 
Odo is the following passage : a he saw 
a pen sticking above his ear, in the 
manner of a writer." 1 As to paper, 
Mabillon says, that he could find no 
paper books more ancient than the 
tenth Century : but the pen made of a 



a Cingula simplicia, tabulas, et pecten acumque 

Fila, stilum, cartas, encaustum pennaculumque. 

Du Cange, v. Pennaculum. 

b Memoires, iii. 701, 

c Du Cange, v. Asciatus. Artavus. Calamarium. 
Cornicularius. Linea. Punctorium. Scarpellum, 
Scriptionale. Scripturale. 

d Archseologia, ii. 76. 

e Warton, iii. 151. 

f Archseologia, ii. 76. 

e Warton, Diss. 2d. 

* Angl. Sacr. i. 278. 

1 Du Cange, v. Penna, 



feather was certainly common in the 
seventh Century ; and though ascribed 
to the classical Antients, by Montfau- 
con's mistaking a passage of Juvenal, 
is first mentioned by Adrian de Valois, 
a writer of the fifth Century . k This 
rather precedes Beckmann, who places 
the first certain account in Isidore. 1 
Ancient ink had nothing common with 
ours, except the colour and gum ; for 
instead of gall nuts and copperas, soot 
or ivory black was the chief ingre- 
dient. 111 

Some peculiarities are noticeable in 
the practices of these ancient Scribes. 
Omissions in the text were to be noted 
in the margin. n The Monks used to 
transcribe their bulls of privilege, not 
only into one, but several books of a 
various nature, as missals and others, 
as well as make marginal notes of the 
affairs of their Abbeys in books of 
Histories. The Martyrology some- 
times contained acts of general chap- 
ters. In the Acta Sanctorum, it is 
said " Lest the Life and Miracles of S. 
Francis de Paula should lapse into 
oblivion, we have dispersed them 
through these four volumes of S. Jerom, 
tegminatim ;" i. e. on the covers.P The 
Scribes also memorandumed their in- 
terlineations. In the Processus de 
Vita S. Yvon, in the Acta Sanctorum, 
the Copyist says, u I have written it 
with my own hand, together with in- 
terlineations and erasures, made in 
seven distinctions f and in the Bulla- 
rium of the Carmelites much greater 
particularity is used. The Scribe says, 
" I have signed it with the sign follow- 
ing, and made a certain interlineation 
which says Redis, and another which 

k Encycl. des Antiquit. v. Plume. It is to be 
noted, that the French writers denominate the 
Century from the first figures, not the next in 
order, as we do. 

1 Invent, ii. 207, seq. 

m Astle's Writing, 211. ubi plura of Inks. 

n Script, p. Bed. f. 19. 

• Decern. Scriptores, 1801, 1770. Selden's 
Titles of Honour, 690. ed. fol. It was the cus- 
tom of all persons, to write in the book, which 
they most often read, the things they wished most 
to remember. In Petrarch's favourite Virgil, is 
his memorandum of Laura's death. Memoires, ii. 
493. 

p Du Cange, v. Tegminatim. 



256 



SCRIPTORIUM — DOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM. 



says Ordinis, and another which says 
Ordini, and another which says Circa."* 
The importance which was annexed to 
this practice may be seen by referring 
to the rules of Ruinartius in his Apo- 
logia, &c. for determining interpola- 
tions in Manuscripts. 

What is done often is done care- 
lessly; but to the credit of the Mo- 
nastic Scribes, very few instances of 
bad writing have occurred during my 
researches. In one Manuscript indeed, 
there is a shocking scrawl, which I 
think the writing of a Nun ; the lines 
being irregular, and the letters of va- 
rious size and of rude make. b Writing 
was neglected by the Anglo-Saxons 
after the Norman Invasion. 

In one point they were too careless. 
Numerous Titles of Manuscripts are 
very indecisive of their contents. This 
is remarkably shown, by an instance 
supremely ridiculous. In the 13th 
Century, Richard de Furnival wrote a 
Bestiary, or treatise of the manners of 
Animals, to which he sometimes an- 
nexed moral paraphrases, but mostly 
addresses to his Mistress ; these of 
course turn chiefly upon points of love 
and gallantry. To distinguish this 
Manuscript from the Bestiaries of other 
writers, the Copyists entitled it "Bes- 
tiarium Amoris/' i. e. the Bestiary of 
Love I ^ a surpassing incongruity of 
terms and meaning. 

It is not the intention of this account 
to reprint the Nouvelle Diplomatique, 
or the various Authors upon Ancient 
Writing ; but it is worth while to no- 
tice, that Leonard Wirstlin, Monk of 
S. Udalrick, describes no less than one 
hundred different hands, the names of 
which are given by Du Cange. e A 
neat running epistolary hand is quite 
modern : except among papers, writ- 
ten by lawyers. Hamlet says, 

" I once did hold it, as our statists do, 
A baseness to write fair." 



■ Du Cange, v. Interlineatura. 
b MS. Cott. Cleop. C. vi. p. 200. 
c Script, p. Bed. 518, b. 
d Notices des MSS. v. 278. 
e V. Scriptura. 



Engrossing was formerly denomi- 
nated a neater kind of writing/ 

Illumination of Manuscripts. These 
works admirably show the general taste 
of the Middle Ages, in matters of art 
and decoration, that is, gorgeous heavi- 
ness, the rich laced court-dress of the 
last Century. Simple elegance and 
airy lightness never appear in ancient 
furniture, or works of ingenuity. They 
perished with the conquests of the Bar- 
barians/ and were revived with the 
classical taste, introduced by modern 
artists, within these few years. The 
first painters of the age illuminated 
Manuscripts. h 

In the National Library at Paris, is 
a superb history of the Bible, of which 
M. Camus has given an account ex- 
pressly adapted to illustrate the paint- 
ings. He compares it with another 
manuscript of similar rich ornaments, 1 
and his remarks apply to illuminated 
writings in general, matters excepted, 
which purely refer to the nature of the 
work. 

Every painted column contains two 
pictures; the first represents what is 
passed, the second, that which is to 
ensue after the annunciation contained 
in the first painting. 

The first initial letters of every ar- 
ticle are richly adorned with gold and 
azure. k The first letter of the Latin 
text is gold; that of the translation 
azure. The Alinea are terminated by 
strokes (traits) covered with gold and 
azure. The first letter of every book 
is distinguished by very multiplied or- 
naments. The pages have a running 
title formed of capitals, alternately gold 
and azure. The initials and the Capi- 
tals are placed upon a ground orna- 
mented with extremely delicate touches 
red and blue. 1 



f Du Cange, v. Grossator. 
_ e The age of classical taste ends with Constan- 
tine, say all the works on the fine Arts. 

h Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, i. 402, 403. 

1 Both MSS. are marked 6829. 

k The favourite colours of illuminers. War ton, ii. 
89. 

1 Notices, vi. 109. 



SCRIPTORIUM— DOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM. 



257 



The vellum was left without colour 
to form the ground of the pictures. The 
heads, the different parts of the body, 
the draperies, &c. are designed, and 
washed with an ink, approaching that 
which we call Indian ink. The pic- 
tures are then, properly speaking, black 
cameos : only in the upper part there 
is a little azure blue to represent the 
clouds. Red is used to mark fire ; green 
or blue, water ; green for trees, and red 
to give effect to carnation tints : gold is 
employed for the crowns, vases, pieces 
of money, and the nimbi of Saints. a 

There is no perspective or propor- 
tion observed. The men are as large 
as the gates, and as tall as the houses 
and trees. The figures are commonly 
slender, but the arms, hands, and feet 
are excessively long and slim : and the 
drawing very incorrect in the attitudes. 

The most original figures are those 
of devils. They are in very great num- 
ber, and the artists appear to have ex- 
ercised their talents in varying them. 
In general they have made of them 
beings of black colour, and hairy, arm- 
ed with claws and horns, with a crook 
for a sceptre, and sometimes they have 
attached to their shoulders the wings 
of a bat : but what is singularly plea- 
sant, is the form which they have given 
to the mouth, to make them grin, and 
the manner in which they have trans- 
formed into hideous heads, their bo- 
soms, their legs, and the lower part of 
the belly ; in short, their different atti- 
tudes. They are always in motion; 
and of extraordinary vivacity . b 

In the other Manuscript the vellum 
is finer, and the pictures, instead of 
being lines and shading, are paintings ; 
some in miniature, others en gonache, 
all heightened with gold and azure. 
The book is divided into sheets or com- 
partments, each of eight pages or four 
leaves of vellum, and the last page of 
each sheet is generally appointed to 



a Notices, vi. 110. 

b P. 111. Among the costumes, &c. is a hand- 
organ, carried by a man, but played upon by a 
young woman. Persons in bed are represented 
stark naked, as was the custom of the day ; of 
which see Strutt's Dresses. 



the same artist as did the following 
sheet, on purpose that the disparity of 
the different styles might not be too 
perceptible. 

The painting is in general a la go- 
nacheA After having drawn the prin- 
cipal lines upon the vellum, they have 
put colours of a middling tint, upon 
which they have laid shades and lights e 
to form the draperies, and distribute 
the lights ; but some pictures are real 
miniatures, where they have employed 
for every part the tints which are suit- 
ed to them, without laying a first mass 
of colour. Gold and sometimes silver 
are employed in two manners, in many 
of the paintings. Sometimes they have 
begun by employing a mass, destined 
to give some force to the colour, which 
they have laid above, and they have 
seldom left any parts of their bed of 
gold apparent. Sometimes they have 
applied fine gold as a last laying/ either 
by filets^ or in masses, by means of a 
mordant. Further there are parts of 
gold, which they have polished h to 
adorn the frames of the pictures. The 
gold employed to ornament the capi- 
tals, is equally brightened. Silver is 
used in the pictures to paint heraldry, 
and sometimes gold. All these pic- 
tures are of a dazzling lustre, when held 
up to the light ; because in general, the 
white predominates, and not being 
painted in oil, it does not absorb a 
single ray of the sun, but reflects them 
all. 1 Antichrist is represented with 
three faces ; one full face, two others 
in profile ; three noses, three mouths, 
and only two eyes. k 

The artists who worked at this kind 
of painting, did not finish each picture 
separately, but performed successive 
operations upon the same painting. 
Thus they bedded at first in gold and 



c P. 115. 

11 This word is not in the French Dictionaries. 

c Des bruns and des clairs. 

1 En dernier couche. 

e Filet d'or, in Boyer, is a fillet of gold on a 
book. 

h Bruni, which also signifies darkened. 

i P. 115. 

k P. 118. In the History of Ruth is a woman 
upon her 7cnee$, threshing corn with a flail. 

S 



258 



SCRIPTOBIUM— DOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM, 



silver, or rather in copper and tin 5 the 
parts to which these leaves of metal 
were to give effect: afterwards they 
laid on blue, green, or yellow upon 
many pictures, the whole in masses 
and flat, to darken or lighten it accord- 
ing to the lights and shades. a 

[Portraits were taken upon parch- 
ment^ and some, excluding the want 
of relief from proper shades, are very 
beautiful. F.] 

Allegorical figures occur, but they 
are in too bad taste to merit noticed 

[Fantastick interpolations show that 
the gout de singulier may not always 
proceed from the ennui du beau : the 
latter, in pure Grecian taste, being ut- 
terly unknown in the middle age. F.] 

In a manuscript abridgment of Uni- 
versal History, the serpent who tempts 
Eve has the head and body of a wo- 
man. This Egyptianized painting ac- 
cords with the text where it is said, 
that the tempter took the form of a 
serpent, with the head of a female/ 1 

Caricatures are sometimes discover- 
able. In the Livre de Pierre Salmon, 
a beautiful Manuscript illuminated on 
purpose for Charles the Sixth, the 
French King, John Sanspeur, Duke of 
Burgundy, is characterized in the illu- 
mination by his robe {semee de rabots), 
powdered with carpenters 5 planes. He 
had adopted this tool for a symbol, and 
said, that with his planes he would 
level France. The heads are portraits. 
That of Pope Alexander V. has too 
little resemblance to merit confidence. 
The line where the nose terminates is 
much too near that of the eyes, and the 
mouth too far from the nose. This 
imperfect resemblance exaggerates the 
faults of the original ; and is therefore 
presumed to be a caricature. e So far 
M. Camus. 



a P. 120. b Angl. Sacr. ii. 385. 

c Notices, v. 173, 174, where are specimens. 

d Notices desMSS. v. 152. 

e Notices, v. 416. [As this is only presumptive 
evidence, it is fit to note, that Caricatures have 
heen found at Portici, &c. (Caylus Rec. iii. pi. 76. 
n. 1.) but they all or most turn upon the figure of 
an ass or ass's head. Warton (Sir Tho. Pope, p. 
58) describes a bitter caricature of our Queen 
Mary ; and see Mr, Douce on Shakespeare. F.] 



Two motives appear to be conspi- 
cuous in respect to these beautiful Ma- 
nuscripts ; one, that perusal might thus 
be invited ; the other, that they might 
be presents of value, for the art of 
writing was very unusual. Petrarch, 
when at Liege, had great difficulty to 
obtain ink to copy two orations of Ci- 
cero ; and what he did get was as yel- 
low as saffron/ Ervenius, an Anglo- 
Saxon, was very skilful in writing and 
illuminating. He committed two books, 
the Sacramentary and Psalter, in which 
he had decorated the principal letters 
with gold, to the care of Wulstan, when 
a boy. Admiration of the workmanship 
invited Wulstan to a studious perusal. 
But Ervenius consulting advantage of 
the age, as affirmed, with the hope of 
greater reward, presented the Sacra- 
mentary to Canute, and the Psalter to 
Emma his Queen.s 

Du Cange and various authors men- 
tion receipts for the colours, which I 
omit. Where red occurred, to give it 
effect, an iron colour was laid, as a 
ground. h 

Vignettes are not modern. Du Cange 
supposes that Paginator means a per- 
son who adorned pages with pictures 
and vincolis, which he calls vignettes, 
both terms being evidently derived from 
the ornaments of foliage, which ap- 
peared in wood-cuts long after the in- 
vention of printing. 

The Gilbertine rule prohibits hired 
writers, by which I apprehend is meant 
limners.' 1 However, there were such 
writers, or limners, at St. Alban's, who 
had commons from the alms of the 
Monks, and cellar, that they might not 
be delayed by going out to buy food. k 
They had the frequent drunken habits 
of Artisans, who, because every man, 
says Johnson, is discontented with his 
avocation, from the obligation to pur- 
sue it at all times, whatever be the state 
of his mind or will, too often abuse 
relaxation. 



f Mem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, i. 207. 

£ Angl. Sacr. ii. 244. 

h Gemmeticensis, 670. 

1 Dugdale's Monast. ii. 767. 

k M. Paris, 1063. 



SCBIPTORIUM — DOMUS ANTIQUARIORUM. 



259 



Barclay, without knowing that sti- 
mulants, however injurious in a pru- 
dential and medical view and never a 
good means, prevent, by the providen- 
tial extraction of good from evil, much 
hypochondriacal influence and tedium, 
which might end in insanity or suicide, 
says : 

But if thou begin for drinke to call and crave, 
Thou for thy calling such good rewarde shall have, 
That men shall call thee malapart or dronke, 
Or an Abbey lowne, or limner of a Monke. 

Eglogue 2d. 

The invention of printing occasioned 
the following results. The scribes hav- 
ing less employment, there were very 
few good artists in this kind, and writ- 
ing lost much of its beauty.a About 
the year 1546, limners and scribes were 
reduced to great distress for want of 
employ ; b for besides Printing, Engrav- 
ing, invented about 1460, c superseded 
the illumination of initials and margins. 
The last specimen was the Lectionary d 
of Cardinal Wolsey at Oxford. e Be- 
sides the rule, it was inquired u whe- 
ther the Monks had made, taken, and 
received the King's age and succession 



a Notices, vi. 113. b Warton, iii. 145. 

c Walpole's Catalogue of Engravers, p. 3. 
d Code of proper lessons for the year. Spelm. 
Gloss. 
e Warton, iii. 146. 



according to Act of Parliament/' f for 
they were obliged to record these, and 
the births of the Royal Family, as well 
as other public events. s 

Bookbinding was occasionally very 
gorgeous : Gold, relicks, silver plates, 
ivory, velvet, and other expensive 
adornments, were bestowed upon the 
books, relating to the Church service, 
but not confined to them ; h for we hear 
of a book of poems, finely ornamented, 
bound in velvet, and decorated with 
silver-gilt clasps and studs, intended 
for a present to the King. 1 Books 
were written in purple vellum in order 
to exhibit gold or silver letters ; and 
adorned with ivory tablets . k The most 
common binding was a rough white 
sheep -skin, lapping over the leaves 
sometimes, with or without immense 
bosses of brass, pasted upon a wooden 
board ; and sometimes the covers were 
of plain wood, carved in scroll and 
similar work. There were formerly 
leaden books with leaden covers, 1 and 
books with wooden leaves. m 

f MS. Harl. 791. f. 25. 

e MS. Cott. Tiber. E. iv. Smith's Catalogue, 
p. 30. 

h Angl. Sacr. i. 147, 622, 644. Archseologia, 
xiii. 220, 221. 

1 Froissart, x. 127. 

k Du Cange,v. Membranum. 

1 Du Cange, v. Coopertum. 

m Decern Scriptores, 2435. 



s 2 



260 



STUDIES OF THE MONKS, 



CHAPTER XLV. 



STUDIES OF THE MONKS. 



Richard Kidderminster, Abbot 
of Winchcombe, made his house a little 
University. He studied night and day 
in a small cell, and had a constant Di- 
vinity lecture. a 

The divine offices were moderated 
to allow time for study; and exemp- 
tion from learning by consequence of 
performing the daily services, in some 
constitutions, and from all Church - 
duty, in others, were privileges of let- 
tered persons. b The Friars too enact- 
ed, " that a greater opportunity might 
be afforded for the study of prayer, c 
that every day after Complin was said, 
all the brethren except the infirm, those 
engaged out, and their servants, should 
shut themselves up either in the clois- 
ter, library^ dormitory, or necessary, till 
the first bell of the day following." d 
Elsewhere, however, there were the 
superior conveniences of appropriate 
studies furnished with presses and ca- 
binets, either over the cloister, or an- 
nexed to a chapel in the dormitory, 6 or, 
as is plain from Davies, in the boarded 
division of the latter place. 

An Abbot, in Erasmus/ says, "I 

a Hist, et Antiq. Oxon. 1. i. p. 248. See more 
of Studies in § Library. 

b Decern Scriptores, 1935. Willkins, Cone. ii. 
723. Monast. ii. 708. 

c Reading the Psalter through, every day, was 
called the study of Eloquence, i. e. reading. Du 
Cange, v. Eloquentia. 

d Et ut studio orationis major praestetur occasio, 
volumus quod singulis diebus a dicto completorio, 
fratres omnes praeter infirmos ac forenses et eis 
servientes, infra spatium comprehendens curiarum 
sevocatarum, (aut quid simile) claustrum, libra- 
rium, dormitorium, et secretae naturalitatis locum, 
usque ad primum signum diei sequentis se recolli- 
gant et includent. MS. Bodl. 1882. p. 47. b. 

e Dec. Script. 2146. 1935. Leland's Coll. i. 249. 

f Abbatis et Eruditae Colloq. 285. 



have sixty-two Monks, yet you will 
not find a" book in my bed-room." 

That the Monks had books of their 
own is clear, from William of Malmes- 
bury^s acknowledgement, and Chaucer's 
Monk, although it was prohibited. Still, 
however, the studies of the Monks took 
a pleasurable rather than severe direc- 
tion ; for it seems they preferred Ovid 
to Augustine, and Ulpian and Trogus 
to the gospel of Christ ; and practised 
desultory reading, not to instruct them- 
selves, but to get rid of the day.s Even 
these, it is probable, were not always 
found the inhabitants of their studies ; 
for we find the appendages of the sports- 
man filling their prohibited chests, 11 an- 
cient great coats, saddles, and spurs. 
Hearne says, there were seldom more 
than five or six books in these private 
studies. 1 

Abbesses had studies. k 



s Hie enim (monachus) in manibus libentius 
gestat Ovidium quam Augustinum ; avidius legit 
Ulpianum et Pompeium quam Christi Evangelium. 
Cotidie novas excogitat occupationes, novas lec- 
tiones divisas non ad edificandum sed ad fallendum 
diei spatium. MS. Harl. 1712. f. 23. b. f. 138. a. 

11 Statuimus insuper ut nullus prorsus nisi pro 
officio sibi commisso arcam, sive cistam cum clave, 
sive armariolum, absque supprioris licentia spe- 
ciali detinere praesumat, quae cum praelatus clavem 
petierit ei sine difficultate tradatur. MS. Cott. 
Claud. E. iv. f. 245. b. Notwithstanding this, be- 
sides spurs and a saddle, I find, among the property 
of a deceased monk, armariola. Cistae duo magnae 
et cistulae cum omnibus aliis sc. argentum et aurum 
cum jocalibus pertinent, adthesaurum. MS. Harl. 
1005. f. 69. b. Nullus et claustralis capam plu- 
vialem, (a large cloak, thrown over the other cloaths. 
Strutt's Dresses, ii. 156.) vel sellam, vel alia, ad 
equitatum pertinencia penes se retineat. MS. Cott. 
Jul. D. ii. f. 160. a. 

{ Lei. Collect, vi. 87. 

k Du Cange, v. Studiolurn. 



PRISON. 



261 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



PRISON. 



The arbitrary power of an Abbot is 
supposed to have originated in the 
selfish considerations of Benedict ; but 
it should be remembered, that the se- 
verity of monastic duties necessarily 
required very extensive powers to main- 
tain them. Of this power they occa- 
sionally made a full use. Alexander 
de Langley, a Monk of St. Alban's, who 
was deranged and behaved sillily and 
haughtily, was, by order of the Abbot, 
accused in Chapter, and beat to a plen- 
tiful effusion of blood ; but, as this did 
not humble him, the Abbot sent him 
to the cell of Binham, where he was 
solitarily imprisoned in fetters, and 
dying was buried in them. 3 Very use- 
ful too was this place (though not ap- 
pertaining to every house b ) to vicious 
Abbots. Christopher Levyns, one of 
Henry's Visitors, says of the Prior of 
Christ Church, Canterbury, " Those 
Monks who had informed against this 
Prior, shall by him be poysoned or 
murthered in prysone, as the comen 
reporte of the Monks of the same house, 
is, that he hathe murthered dyverse 
other." c Davies says, " Within the 
Infirmary, underneath the Master's 
lodge, [he kept the keys of it; d and 



a M. Paris, 1051. The prison was called Vade 
in pace, because those who were put into it were 
to stay there till death. Du Cange, v. Vade, &c. 

b Monast. ii. 56H. C. G. North, a 1444. c. iiii. 

c MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 124. a. 

d MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. f. 205. Aliquo fra- 



when any Monk was confined there, 
the Monk's keeper e brought the keys 
back, and brought and carried him 
back according to the directions of the 
Abbot and Chapter] was a strong 
Prison, called the Lying-house, or- 
dained for great offenders ; as for 
Monks guilty of felony or adultery, 
where they Avere imprisoned in chains 
a whole year, without seeing any one, 
except the master of the Infirmary, in 
letting down their meat through a trap- 
door by a cord, and that at a great dis- 
tance from the prisoners." lie is cor- 
rect: the Clugniac Statutes mention 
the Prison as a place accessible only 
by a ladder, without window or door. 
The fetters were some lighter, some 
heavier ; and there were also a kind of 
stocks, or boicB, handcuffs and iron col- 
lars, fastened by chains, through the 
wall on the outside/ "Bishops used 
to imprison offending clerks there. s 
But if any of the temporal men belong- 
ing to the house offended in the pre- 
mises, they were punished by the tem- 
poral law;" that is, in the Monastic 
Courts. 



tre in ergastulo truso, magister illius fratris claves 
feret, illumque secundum abbatis et capituli deli- 
berationem ducet et reducet. Id. 

c In a Visitation of Hales Abbey (MS. Bibl. 
Reg. E. 14, a° 1241) a keeper of the Prison is or- 
dered to be appointed. 

f Du Cange, v. Boga, Boia. 

9 Wilkins, Coagil. iii. 495, 



262 



MONASTIC COURTS- 



CHAPTER XLVII. 



MONASTIC COURTS. 



These at Canterbury were held in 
the conventual church. 3 They had all 
kinds of cognizance of their own men, 
except judgment of life and limb, in 
some places ; and in others more ex- 
tensive powers. If in the Abbots 5 
courts justice was not done, the Founder 
and his heir were to compel it, and this 
sometimes even in his own Conventual 
Court ; or there was an appeal to that 
of the King. Sometimes the Monks 
obtained from a Founder, that, if any 
of their servants should do any injury 
to his people, justice should be sought 
in their Court. b There were servants 
of the Monastery of Hexham, who used 
to serve summonses, levy distresses, 
and carry rods. c It is singular, that 
that spirit of equivocating plain lan- 
guage (which marks modern pleading, 
which every honest jury should, where 
possible,, overrule, and which had its 
origin, in my opinion-, in scholastic 
subtlety, or quibbling on weak sides, 
corrupting the exquisite ratiocination 
and perfect discrimination of the civil 
law), should, so early as the reign of 
the first Edward, have compelled the 
Abbot of St. Mary's, York, to petition 
that the general terms of cognizance of 
pleas, murder, and other crimes, which 
designated his legal privileges, should 
be more particularized, on account of 
the subtlety of the moderns. d The 



a Decern Scriptor. 1982. Church-porches are 
known to have been law-courts. Julius (pontiff a. 
340,) enacted that no clerk should be brought to 
trial in public, except into a church. 

b Monast. i. 202. 377. 1055, ii. 911. 

c Id. ii. 92. 

d Rot. Pari. 18 Edw. I. No. 146. (vol. i.) Of 
the subtlety of feudal claims take the following 
anecdote : 

In the 14th Century the Augustinian Monastery 
of Windsheim in the province of Overyssel wished 
to erect a windmill, but the neighbouring lord ob- 
jected, saying, that the wind in that district be- 
longed to him. The Monks complained to the 
Bishop, who gave them permission, affirming, in 



manerial Courts (and perhaps the others) 
were held by the Seneschal, e and Wol- 
sey orders, that the Canon, who sat 
with the Seueschal in holding the 
Courts, should behave so piously, and 
so seriously attend to the benefit of 
the house, that he should seem rather 
to regard this than his own recreation/ 
The author of the Plowman's Tale 
charges the Monks with slighting their 
tenants on these occasions, and rejoic- 
ing the higher they were amerced. It 
was, I presume, in these Courts, that 
tenants sought or purchased that li- 
cence of marrying their daughters,^ 
which was the real marchet tenure, so 
absurdly made obscene, and was no 
other than what has been elsewhere 
called maiden rents. h The King's jus- 
ticiaries held gaol- deliveries of the pri- 
soners. 1 

The form of a trial in one of these 
Courts is thus related by a Monk of 
St. Augustine^s, Canterbury. Certain 
Flemings were brought into the Ab- 
bot's Court of Stonor, in Kent, for 
murder. They were arraigned by the 
Seneschal and Court, to which they 
pleaded not guilty > and placed them- 

anger, that the wind in the whole province (of 
Utrecht) was his property.* However absurd this 
seems, the Roman Law ruled, that all the air over 
a person's houses or estates was his own ; some 
Emperors even had tribute for air and shade ; and 
it. was decided at Naples, that a criminal was enti- 
tuled to Sanctuary who hung by his hands from a 
window which overlooked a Church-yard.f Houses 
in cities are pushed aloft, as high as the Proprietor 
pleases, in the present day, but only because it in- 
jures no one. 

e Monast. ii. 551. f Id. ii. 569. 

s Memorandum, quod anno, &c. die, cepit Ri- 

cardus Avystaine de Draitone licentiam maritandi 

Agnetem filiam suam. Registr. de Abingd. MS. 

Harl. 209. p. 12. 

' k Watson's Halifax, 268. 5 Monast. i. 242. 

* Beckman's Inventions, i. 269. 

f Cujacius, L. 10 Obs. c. 7. Petr. Greg. Syn- 
tagm. L. 3. c. 10. n. fin. and the Roman Laws 
quoted in Solorzanus, L. 3. c, 3, p. 387. 



MONASTIC COURTS. 



263 



selves upon the tovm of Stonor. The 
men of Stonor were then ordered to 
inquire into their guilt or innocence, 
and to give judgment accordingly. 
They returned them innocent, and the 
Seneschal^ in the presence of the whole 
Courts acquitted them. Goods and 
chattels of the convicts belonged to 
the King, or, by charter from him, to 
the Abbot. Instances appear of the 
issue of summonses three days before 
the holding the Court; of records of 
proceedings ; of perquisites ; and of 
numerous thieves being taken and 
hanged by their authority, as a result 



of the privilege of infangentheoff; of 
the Coroner entering their precincts 
to do his duty ; of the responsibility 
of the Abbot in cases of escape ; and 
of the King's Justiciaries taking cogni- 
zance of prisoners, in crimes to which 
the Abbot's privilege did not extendi 



a W. Thorne, 1839. 1917. 1919. 1928. 1930. 
1933. 2021. If I rightly understand this Monk in 
p. 1843, men were imprisoned for coming there in 
arms. The History of Ely, c. xxvii. mentions a 
large Court held at the Abbey door. W. Thorne 
also mentions citations, punishments for contempt, 
&c. as now. 



264 



MISERICORD. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



MISERICORD. 



This was a hall in which were tables 
and a dresser. The word Misericord 
also implied stated indulgences and 
allowances, according to circumstances, 
of food, drink, wine or beer, or cloath- 
ing or bedding, beyond the rule. a 

The use of this office is in part ex- 
plained by the following injunction. 
" Also, that all and singular Brethren 
and Monks of this Monastery take the 
refection altogether in a place called 
the Misericorde soch dayes as they 
ete fleshe, and all other dayes in the 
Refectory/' b By the constitutions of 
Ottoboni, two parts of the Convent were 
to eat in the Refectory ; but the sta- 
tute which forbad flesh being eaten in 
the Convent, the Monks used to evade, 
by leaving a few in the Refectory, and 
eating meat elsewhere, and those who 
did dine in the fratry also took meat at 
supper in another place. To this the 
constitution, or rather permission, just 
quoted, alludes. But, as the word ad- 
ditionally, implies the relaxations grant- 
ed to the Monks, I shall take this op- 
portunity of discussing them. Miseri- 
cords, established by the authority and 
dispensations of Abbots, were, says 
Lyndwood, in some places, exonera- 
tions from the duties of the Choir and 
Cloister, granted to the Monks alter- 
nately by weeks. An account was 
given in to the Chapter how they be- 
haved during that time ; and they were 
not to refresh themselves but in the 
presence of two seniors/ 1 who were to go 
out from the Monastery, return with 
them, converse with them in the Miseri- 
cord, and restrain their levities by re- 
proof, which was the especial privilege 



a Du Cange, v. Misericordia. 
'■' MS. Colt. Cleop. E. iv. f. 22. 
c Athon. 150. and C. G. Northampt. a 1444. 
C. vn. See too Erasmi IXGYQl'AlTA. 
< l Lyndw. 211,212. 



of seniors over juniors. Other writers, e 
misled by the glossarist of Matthew 
Paris, have called a Misericord a guzzle 
of wine} an imperfect definition, taken 
from the refreshment of that liquor 
granted during the above period.^ It 
seems that a license was thus granted 
to the Monks of conversing, disputing 
on learned topicks, talking of business, 
histories, tales, news of the world, and 
raillery ; h and Wolsey, finding that the 
Augustinian Canons absented them- 
selves from the Choir for whole weeks, 
and neglecting the regular observances, 
mingled in dishonourable games, 1 and 
the company of suspected persons, 
ordered that the Canons, not singly, 
but in a number together, regulated 
by the superior, and accompanied by 
one or two elder brethren, should re- 
create themselves, not in the towns, 
villages, and taverns, but in sunny, 
large, and pleasant places, near their 
houses, where they should be satisfied 
with religious and modest exercise of 
the body ; not mix with seculars, or 
go to houses of laymen to eat and 
drink without leave of the superior, 
but carry their provisions with them; 
and, on every such day of recreation, 
return at night, unless they stopped at 



e Lewis's Thanet, p. 110. 

f These Charities did not consist of wine only, 
but Cowell says of beer, indeed of various refresh- 
ments, for we find a Charity, consisting of a sallad, 
seasoned with honey. (Du Cange, v. Oxgorafius.) 

s De vino misericordiarum. Decern Scriptores, 
col. 2039. 1.21. 

h Dev. Vie Mon. ii. 650. 

1 Perhaps there is an allusion here to the Arietem 
levare, a game among the English Religious, for- 
bidden in several of our councils. The Ram was 
raised upon wheels, and the standard of the Church 
preceded the sport with it. Bishop Kennet sup- 
poses that it was a kind of Quintain, i. e. a mark at 
which they tilted with poles. (Du Cange, v. Arietem 
levare.) Concerning the Quintain, perhaps Strutt 
has not quoted Menestrier of Tournaments and the 
Disquisition in the Mem, Acad, des. Inscript, v. xx. 



MISERICORD. 



265 



the Granges with the Abbot, then at 
any of those places. a 

" Sum is aid and feeble, and is the 
lesse dread of/' b was a Monastic 
maxim ; and accordingly, says the 
Golden Legend, " when a relygyous 
man hath contynued in his ordre fyfty 
yere, thenne he shall be admytted to 
make hys jubilee, and that made, he is 
pardonned, and hathe remyssion of 
many observauntes before he was 
bounden unto." c 

Every Convent was divided into 
three Orders. Juniors, who, up to the 
24th year of their profession bore all 
the burdens of the Choir, Cloister, and 
Refectory. The next sixteen years 
they were exonerated from the duties 
of Chantries, Epistle, Gospel, and simi- 
lar labours. They undertook the im- 
portant business of the House. From 
the 40th to the 50th year they were 
called Seniors, and were excused from 
the offices of the Cellar, Almonry, and 
Kitchen. In the 50th year they be- 
came SempectceA 

These Sempect<% e had a chamber in 
the Infirmary, with a boy to wait upon 
them, and a Junior for a companion. 
They went in and out about any part 
of the house without restriction ; were 
never, from an elegant refinement, 
told any thing unpleasant, or received 
any offence ; and thus they waited their 
dissolution. 1 " The consequences of 
privileges and exemptions in favour of 
old Monks were bad : for they took 
the liberty of examining, judging, and 
censuring every thing ; and there were 



a Monast. ii. 569. 

b MS. Cott. Cleop. C. vi. fol. 4. a. 

c F. cxi. a. 

d Da Cange, v. Sempecta. 

e 2v[xndiKrac. Du Cange. In Mr. Gough's 
Second Appendix to his History of Croyland, p. 
283, it is supposed a corruption of Senecta: but 
the authorities cited in Du Cange will best settle 
the question. The Benedictine Editors were 
Monks ; and they make the word Greek. 

f Ingulphi Hist. 504. Ed. Savile ; in which edi- 
tion the reader will observe, that the Licentiam 
habet, &c. belongs to the Prior and not to the 
Sempecta, as is plain from the Oxford Edition, p. 
50, which supplies the defect of Sir H. Savile's 
MS. (See Prsef. Angl. Sac. and Watson's Hali- 
fax, for an account of Sir Henry's MS.) 



as many superiors as old men in the 
Monastery, which banished piety, 
ruined discipline, and introduced a 
scandalous irregularity and confusion.^ 
Favouritism and cynical asperity are 
often found together in aged persons. 

Henry's Visitors allowed the Abbot 
" to goe out and take three or four of 
his brethren with him" at inclination ; 
and also allowed the " said Abbot to 
give the Prior, Supprior, and other 
officers, being suche as he shall thinke 
men of discretion, licence thre or four 
tymes at the most in the yeere, to goo 
abrod for their refresse and recreacon, 
taking to him or them so having li- 
cense, four of the other brethren at 
the least." 11 This was a hard consti- 
tution for Obedientiaries and Monks, 
who, as before has been shown, took 
great liberties in this respect ; though 
the Canons, which allowed them to 
visit friends and relatives, even in fo- 
reign parts, 1 with leave of the Abbot, 
only granted the indulgence very sel- 
dom (only for once in a year was the 
request of the articles against them), on 
good cause, and for a small time, and 
with a companion. k The Monks mu- 
tually kissed each other, when going 
out. 1 The Obedientiaries who had 
horses were then bound to lend them 
to the Monks, if the request was not 
made too often. m John, 21st Abbot 
of St. Alban's, wishing to spare the 
trouble and expences of Monks tra- 
velling, who did not abound with mo- 
ney, made a statute, that if they could 
not finish their journey in time to get 
to St. Alban's, they should go to any 
of the nearest monastic farms. n By the 
decretals of Wolsey, for the Augustinian 
Canons, no one was to go out without 
leave, and the term of his return ap- 
pointed ; not to have dogs or hawks 
with him \ not to drink in the town, 



s Dev. Vie Monast. i. 331. 
h MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 49. 
5 Or for study. See Richard of Cirencester's 
Itinerary by Stukeley, Preface. 

k M. Par. 1331, 1100. Reyn. Append. 166, 
1 Du Cange, v. Osculum pads. 
'" C. G. North. a° 1444, c. v. 
» M. Paris (2d) 1043. 



266 



MISERICORD, 



unless sick or by special permission; 
to have such companions as the supe- 
rior appointed^ and money found from 
the common stock ; a the well-known 
pictures of Chaucer's Monk, and Lid- 
gate, render it unnecessary for me to 
describe their habits as travellers . b By 
the Norman Institutes, the religious 
did not receive both benedictions of 
going and returning, unless he staid 
out for more than two days ; but either 
benediction alone, as the circumstances 
of his going out or return were with- 
in that period. This benediction of 
going out was never given at Vespers 
or Complin ; and a Monk, who had 
received it, if the bell of the hour rung 
before he left the Cloister, returned to 
the Church, though, if he had passed 
the Court-gate, he staid out of the 
Choir. He did not enter the Cloister, 
when gartered or girdled, or with a 
cope on. When they said their hours 
on their journey, or made a prayer, 
they kneeled, but never bowed, nor 
upon a mistake begged pardon, except 
they were in Church. On such days 
as the hours in the Convent were said 
on the Misericords, if on horseback 
they descended, and having begun the 
hours, and taken a venia, they pulled 
the gloves from their hands and hoods 
from their heads, and re-mounting their 
horses, finished them. If they had a 
necessity of speaking, they began afresh 
when that was over. Until the hour 
was sung, c in an inn, or when they ate 
in their frocks or hoods only, they said 
the psalmody, which they could not sing 
at night on horseback. They also said 
Complin before going to sleep 5 and, if 
interrupted by a necessity of speaking 
before Mattins, began it afresh, and 
afterwards observed silence. Where- 
ever they were they had a light burn- 
ing all night. Eagerness, says Pe- 
trarch, to execute your orders has 
made of me a traveller by night, against 
my character and principles A Thus it 



* Monast. ii. 567. 

b Attended with three or four horsemen. Hut- 
chinson's Durham, ii. 92. 
c Dum hora canitur. 
4 Memoires &c. ii, 142. 



was deemed irreputable to journey by 
night. 

The constitutions allowed a Nun to 
be absent only from disease ; for re- 
creation ; to make or receive a cure f 
to console sick parents, or attend their 
funerals ; for three days only when 
absent for the sake of relaxation, and 
in case of illness for six only, after 
cure, unless by episcopal dispensation/ 
A permission of making pilgrimages, 
and of visiting relatives from their own 
inclination, or light occasions, wan- 
tonly granted, is reprobated in visit- 
ing inj unctions. s An episcopal license 
on this occasion only mentions the re- 
quest for absence by a noble female, 
and enables the Prioress to grant it, 
adding, that the Nun must have a 
companion, and might go on horse- 
back, 11 though in opposition to the 
customs of the house. 1 The Gilbertine 
Nuns, in their way to the general 
Chapter, travelled in carriages, and 
shunned all hospitia of religious per- 
sons, unless there was a habitation of 
women there. They did not talk by 
the way; and no speech was made 
unheard by the attendant canon and 
lay brother . k — Erasmus gives an anec- 
dote of two Nuns on a visit, at which 
he was present. They were at the 
house of a relative. The servant by 
forge tfulness had omitted to bring their 
book of prayers. A great disturbance 
ensued. They did not dare to eat 
their supper, without first saying their 
evening prayers, nor would they accept 



e Female medical talents, and theirs, among 
others, are spoken of by Mr. War ton and others. 

f Lyndw. 212. 

s Monast. i. 910.925. 

h Forbidden. Monast ii. 787. 

1 Licentia pro moniali exeundi de domo sua. P. 
&c. Priorissse, &c. precibus charissimse nobis in 
Christo filiae Dominge J. consanguinis Domini Wla 
militis nostri dioc' favorabilius inclinatus , ut ad earn 
justis et honestis ex causis, domina M. hujus dicti 
vestri prioratus commonialis, cum alia ejusdem 
prioratus ipsam associante accedere valeant; va- 
leant equestri, non obstantibus vestris consuetudi- 
nibus contrariis, dispensatione, ex causis Ileitis 
nobis sufficienter doctis, in quantum de jure pos- 
sumus, quatinus obedientiam et honestatem disci- 
plinse regularis, literarum tenore prsesentium duxi- 
mus indulgendum, &c. &c. MS. Harl. 2179. 

k Monast. ii. 706. 



MISERICORD. 



267 



of any other book than their own. In 
the mean while, the whole house was 
eager for supper. What was to be 
done? The servant returned to his 
horse, and fetched the book, when 
night was far advanced. The Prayers 
were said, and it was ten o'clock (a 
very late hour in that age) when they 
sat down to supper. a 

Farm-houses were anciently used as 
inns ; b and there is a grant of a place 
on condition of paying twelve-pence 
annually, and finding an hospitium for 
the Prior and Chapter passing that 
way ; though no further than the space 
of the house to stay in. c William, Ab- 



a Ichthyophagia inter Colloq. 428. 
b Smythe's Lives of the Berkeley Family. 
p. 145. 

° Monast. ii. 818. 



MS. 



bot of St. Alban's, bought a house at 
London for the accommodation of his 
Monks, with a Chapel, numerous beds, 
orchard, stable, kitchen, court, garden, 
and well ; and a perpetual servant re- 
sided there to keep it. d The punish- 
ment of exceeding the allotted time of 
absence, according to the constitutions 
of Benedict the Twelfth, was a severe 
discipline. 6 This liberty was very dif- 
ficultly granted at St. Alban's even 
after three years continuance in the 
state of a no vice. f 



d M. Paris, p. 1057. 

e He was led naked from the gate, in his shirt, 
carrying his cloaths and a. ferula, to the Chapter, 
and there beaten. "Wilkins's Concil. ii. 608. (Const. 
Bened. xii. § De licentia eundi extra Monaste- 
rium.) f M. Paris, 1031. 



268 



SANCTUARY. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 



SANCTUARY. 



This was the method by which an- 
ciently the rigour of common law was 
moderated. It allowed the criminal 
time for making restitution, or under 
the Anglo-Saxon laws, he must have 
suffered immediate pains and punish- 
ments/' 1 

The old Sanctuary of Westminster 
consisted of two Churches one over 
another, in the form of a cross. b 

Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury, 
was said to have hired one Chamber- 
lain, a Sanctuary man at Westminster, 
to meet Will. Marquess Berkeley with a 
great company on the road, and assassi- 
nate him . As s o on as thi s news, though 
false, came to the Abbotts ears, he 
sent for this Chamberlain, and called 
the Archdeacon c and others to exa- 
mine the matter, and because the 
story was raised by Chamberlain's as- 
sent, the Abbot decreed, that he should 
be brought to an open place in the 
Sanctuary, Gn purpose for punishment, 
and made him to be arrayed in papers 
printed with signes of untroth, sedi- 
tion, and doubleness, made him go 
before the procession in this dress, and 
afterwards set him in the stocks, that 
the people might see him. d 

At Durham certain men lay in two 
Chambers over the North door to let 
in offenders whenever they knocked, 
however late ; after which they tolled 
the Galilee bell, in notice of such 



a Hutchinson's Durham, i. 39. 
b Archseol. i. 39. 

c Some Monasteries had Archdeacons over their 
own jurisdictions ; as that of Worcester, &c. 
d Smythe's Berkeley MS. 539, 



event. When the Prior heard of it, 
he sent orders that they should keep 
within the Sanctuary, Church, and 
Church-yard, and wear a black gown 
with a yellow cross, called St. Cuth- 
bert's cross (a token of the privilege 
granted to that Saint's shrine) ; and 
that they should lie upon a grate made 
only for that purpose, adjoining to the 
Galilee South door. They had also 
meat, drink, and bedding, for thirty- 
seven days, being only such as were 
necessary for such offenders, 6 until the 
Prior and Convent could get them 
conveyed out of the diocese. Accounts 
were given in to the King of the goods 
of felons/ which, it seems, were some- 
times distrained by conventual bailiffs, 
and preserved in the house till their 
persons were sent to gaol.s This pri- 
vilege, to be granted by the King alone, 
was not to be claimed without char- 
ter, and extended only to criminal of- 
fences. 11 Living in Sanctuary was very 
expensive, and the demands exces- 
sively extortionate; 1 bawds and whores 
took refuge there. k 



e In the Gravamina Eccles. Anglican, art. 22, 
it is said, " when any fugitive flies to the protec- 
tion of the Church, Church-yard, or stair-case of 
the Church, he shall be guarded by Lay-keepers, 
because he cannot expect to be provided for in 
viands by the Church." Hence the expence of 
living in Sanctuary, hereafter noted. 

f Jones's Index to Records, vol. ii. tit. Beaulewe 
and Berkyng. 

s Monast. ii. 348, 9. 

h Staveley on Churches, p. 170. 
. J Paston's Letters, ii. p. 10. 

k Maitland's London, p. 771. PI. in Stowe, 442, 
&c. and Mr. Pegge on the subject. 



DEPENDENT CHURCHES. 



269 



CHAPTER L. 



DEPENDENT CHURCHES. 



According to the Council of Chal- 
cedony a decree of Alexander II. and a 
general Chapter of the year 1215, 
Monks were not to preach to the 
people, under penalty in the latter of 
deposition to an Abbot, and expulsion 
to a simple religious. a The idea was, 
however, reprobated by their own 
body: b and Athon c says positively, 
(very ancient constitutions allow them 
to do parochial duties so far back as 
the seventh century/ 1 ) that a religious 
could be instituted in secular Churches 
by leave of the Bishop, Abbot, and 
the common laAV, without a dispen- 
sation, and that he might live upon his 
benefice, like another Rector. An or- 
dinance too of a late general Chapter, 
ordered that those who were able and 
fit should preach, and they did so both 
in their convents and in public. e Vi- 
sitation injunctions forbid interest 
being made for benefices ; and the dis- 
mission of a religious from his house 
to fill one, mentions good life and mo- 
rals, the consent of the house for his 
departure, the episcopal dispensation, 
and superior's license/ Burn says, 
that Rectors only, not Vicars, were ex- 
pected to preach ; sometimes all who 
were ordained Priests. & As to vicar- 
ages, it appears that they " scarcely 
among xx set one sufficient Vicar to 
preach •" and that in some places 



a Dev. Vie Monast. ii. 21. 184, 5. 

b Reyner, 245. e P. 146. 

d Malmsb. 112. 

e Reyn. App. 102. Lei. de Scriptor. p. 146, &c. 

* Ne sollicitent seu laborare faciant seculares pro 
benefices. MS. Mus. Asbmol. 1519. f. 26. b. (Ord. 
Aug.) Vitse ac morum honestas — de collegio nostro 
liberum dimittimus quatinus dejure, &c. dispensa- 
tio episcopi, &c. licentia magistri dicti hospitalis in 
hac parte petita priinitus et obtenta. MS. Had. ut 
sup. f. 88. a. where the form of the Abbot's writ 
for arresting vagabond Monks, f. 88, and other/br- 
mulce. s Angl. Sacr. ii. 487. 



there was preaching " but ones in a 



year 



"h 



Such Vicars were, in some 



places, answerable to the Bishop for 
the cure of souls ; to the Monks for 
temporals. 1 There were often in these 
Churches peculiarities, (as being in 
the local site of cells,) thus described 
by Mr. Hasted : — " At the west end of 
the Chancel (Lenham) there are six- 
teen stalls, eight on each side, though 
of a different size, for the use of the 
Monks of St. Augustine's, when they 
visited their estate in this parish, and 
for such other of the Clergy as should 
be present at the services of the 
Church." k Dormitories, &c. were an- 
nexed to the Rectories, for accommo- 
dation of the Monks. 1 

If the benefice was given to the 
table of the Monks, and so not appro- 
priated in the common form, but 
granted by way of union in full right, 
it was served by a temporary Curate, 
belonging to their own house, and sent 
out as occasion required. The like 
liberty of not appointing a perpetual 
Vicar was sometimes granted by dis- 
pensation, in benefices not annexed to 
their tables, in consideration of the 
poverty of the house, or nearness of 
the Church. 111 To their vicarages the 
Abbot presented; 11 and in those be- 
longing to the Alien Priories, there was 
particular neglect of duty. " Sacra- 
legious Monks buyers of Churches/' 



h Selden's Tythes,4to. 1618. p. 487. The recall 
of canons in the Prsemonstratensian order, who offi- 
ciated in cures, is insisted on with vehemence in 
Biblioth. Prsemonst. i. 837. 

1 Monast. ii. 854. 

u Hist, of Kent, v. 439. See tooiii. 511. Ed. 8vo. 

1 Angl. Sacr. i. 146. 

m Gibson and Burn. 

n Monast. i. 297, 8. 

° Selden's Tythes, 106. Henry's injunctions 
charge the Abbot with taking the revenues of 
Churches to his own use. 



270 



DEPENDENT CHURCHES. 



says Gualo Britannus. a Chapels were 
built on the manerial demesnes from 
the fear of war. b 

Pensions~from these Churches were 
common ; and, by a synod held in the 
reign of the first Henry, it appears the 
Monks so stripped the Churches of 
their revenues, that the officiating 
priests could scarcely live. c By some 
regulations it seems, that when 
Churches were vacant, the keys were 
brought to the Chapter, and the Re- 
venues taken possession of by the Ab- 
bot and Convent; and the Abbot 



a Sacrilegis monachis emptoribus ecclesiarum, 
Composui satyram, &c. MS. Cott. Tit. a. xx. f. 
105. &Fabr. Bibl. M. Mv. iii. 322. 

b Capellam, quam pater meus tempore Regis 
Stephani propter metum guerrse coustruxit. Re- 
gistr. Abbat. de Winchcombe pen. Dom. Sher- 
borne, fol. 431. 

c Eadmeri Hist. Novor. p. 68. 



bound to present within forty days. 
By others, the keys were brought to the 
Chapter, or Prior of the manor ; an In- 
ventory was taken of all the books, 
vestments, and other moveables ; the 
above Prior was to appoint some Priest 
to do the duty; to take care of the 
profits of the benefice ; to be present 
(unless any one was sent on purpose by 
the Abbot) at the institution of the in- 
cumbent ; and to cite him (upon neglect 
of so doing, when suspension was the 
consequence), to come and do fealty in 
the Convent. Delinquent clerks, at 
least in exempt houses, were suspended 
and excommunicated by the Abbot's 
commissary. The Prior of the manor 
was to see that no new Chantries were 
made. d 



d W. Thome, p. 1956. 1961. 1980. c. xxvii. 

sect. 7. 



CELLS — GRANGES, 



271 



CHAPTER LI. 



CELLS GRANGES. 



Cells were either places of recreation, 
where the Monks used to stop for this 
purpose by turns ; a or where Monks 
of bad character were sent, b and others 
sometimes by the Abbot in a fit of 
passion. It was thought a great griev- 
ance to be sent to remote Cells, or from 
Cell to Cell; for the people used to say, 
" this man has done something bad, or 
the Abbot hates him, and envies him, 
because he is better than himself, or 
contradicts his errors, and reproves his 
excesses/ 1 The Monks resident were 
to conform to the practice of their Ab- 
bies in respect to divine service, sleep- 
ing in dormitories, and other religious 
practices. 6 It was the custom anti- 



a Dec. Scriptores, 1937. Leland's Collect, ii. 
330. Chapel and Infirmary annexed to them. 
Lewis's Thanet, 154. Also a Dormitory, Angl. 
Sacr. i. 146. 

b The bad behaviour of the Monks in them is 
sufficiently shown by the following extract : " Mo- 
nachus quidam Sagiensis Coenobii de cella quadaru 
in partibus Angliae longinquis ad aliam cellam loci 
ejusdem remotis in Walliae finibus super mare Mil- 
verdicum et Hibernicum gyroragando discurrens, 
ne solus esset in via, quia vse soli, — non socium sibi, 
sed sociam elegit ; ejus turpitudo terque quaterque 
turpiter deprehensa fuit. Adeo quidem quod a 
Castellanis parcium illarum demum captus et in 
carcerem missus, sociaque ipsius et confusionis 
causa ribaldis exposita fueratet garcionibus prosti- 
tuta. Tales autem honores et tales honestates ex 
monachis ad cellulam missis ordine monastico per- 
venire solent. MS. Cott. Tiber. B. 13. 

A certain Monk, who was rambling about from a 
cell in the remote parts of England to another in 
Wales, lest he should be alone on his journey, took 
a companion on his way ; not a he one, but a she 
one ; three or four times he was most unluckily 
detected ; and at last put into gaol by some Castel- 
lans of that neighbourhood, whilst his poor lady 
was exposed to all the indecencies of the rabble 
among them. Such honours and such graces, says 
Giraldus, adorn the Monastic order, from the 
Monks who are sent to cells. 

c C. G. North. a° 1444, ex. 

d M.Paris, 1046, 7. 

e Prior vero in cellis, quanto frequentius com- 
mode possit, intersit matutinis, nee extra dormito- 
rium jacere praesumat, nisi ad minus quatuor de 
fratribus in dormitorio ipso absente remaneant. 
MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 242. b. 



ently, when any of the Monks belong- 
ing to a Cell went out upon business, 
not to take refreshment out of the Cell.* 
The Priories were much sought after 
even by Novices ;S and it seems that 
they were matters of commerce; that 
the Abbot, in granting a farm of them, 
received or required securities ; that the 
Priors made dishonest contracts, un- 
just claims, and sold too dear for a 
time. 11 Certain Alien Priories chose 
their own Prior, were entire societies 
within themselves, received the reve- 
nues for their own use, and paid only a 
yearly pension, as an acknowledgment 
to the parent-house. 1 Foreign Abbies 
could sometimes compel any Monk of 
the subject Cells, except the Prior and 
Cellarer, to come to them when wanted. k 
They were places of enjoyment for the 
foreign superiors. William of Exeter, 
Abbot of Grestain, in Normandy, a 
house which had property in England, 
used to stay above two years at a time, 
upon pretence of Conventual business 
in this country. 1 A Preceptory or 
Commandery was a convenient man- 
sion belonging to the Knights Hospi- 
talers, of which sort they had several 
on their different estates, in each of 
which they had a society of their bre- 
thren placed to take care of their lands 
and rents in that neighbourhood. The 
respective Priors, or Preceptors, ac- 
counted to the Order in general, for the 
overplus of the profits of the respective 
estates; but in process of time, a certain 
rent called a responsion was paid in- 
stead. 111 A mark was paid by Cells 



f Du Cange, v. Responsum. 
& MS. Roy. Libr. 8 F. XVII. sect. Cuidam no- 
vitio, qui affectabat prioratum. 
h M. Paris, 1098. 
1 Hasted's Kent, 8vo. viii. 180. 
k Monast. i. 595. 

1 Du Monstier's Neustria Pia, p. 532. 
m Collinson, iii. 97. 



2/2 



CELLS — GRANGES, 



sometimes as a token of dependence, 3 
and procurations upon the decease of 
Abbots . b At San toft, in the county of 
Lincoln, a Cell of St. Mary's, York, a 
mastiff was granted to the Monk to 
keep his house, a croft for out-door 
animals, and whatever he could gain by 
the common marsh, and things sold 
for his use. c It is singular, that Giral- 
dus Cambrensis should say that the 
Cistercians avoided all the bad conse- 
quences of Cells in the irregularities of 
their inhabitants, by having none, and 
remedying all defects by visitors and 
chapters. d The Monks used to reap 
and make hay themselves. 

In the rules of St. Victor, the bre- 
thren who staid at Cells were to be 
three in every place, if possible, or two 
at least. In food, and clothing, and 
the tonsure, they did not vary from the 
common institution. They kept si- 
lence at table, and did not speak in the 
Church. They sung Complin at an 
early seasonable hour in summer and 
winter, and did not run about the vil- 
lage or elsewhere/ 

A good Prior is recorded for paying 
more money than his farm amounted 

a Monast. i. 340. b Id. ii. 347. 

c Id. i. 405. 

tl Circumspecte vero Cistercienses in liiis et simi- 
libus cavendis sibi providerunt, dum et cellis per 
totum ordinem carent, et cuncta supervacanea, et 
honestati ordinis contraria per visitatores et capitula 
resecar icurarunt. MS. Cott. Tiber. B. 13. Now 
Kingswood was considered as a Cell of Tinterne, and 
so de cceteris. 

e Henry, vi. 175. f Da Cange, v. Obedientia. 



to ; for selling the wool well, and mak- 
ing good Granges. By some regula- 
tions he was ordered to see that cham- 
bers and gowns were provided for the 
use of the Monks who came there by 
turns for recreation ; and not to erect 
buildings above a certain cost, except 
sea-ivalls, and things of that kind. 

The Nuns too held manors under 
the care of a Prioress.^ 

Granges were the farms and abbatial 
residences, and parks were often an- 
nexed to them. Thomas Lord Berke- 
ley, 18 Edward I. being ill, went to a 
Grange of the Abbot of St. Augustine^s, 
Canterbury, for change of air, till he 
recovered. The Abbot's bill came to 
2d. which the Abbot received. 11 Upon 
the Grange at Cuddesdon, in Oxford- 
shire, there were, it seems, corn, cattle, 
common utensils, benches, tables, 
forms, and " a carte, the wheles bound 
with iron. ,} * The housekeeper, or hos- 
pit alls f rater gr angles 9 has been already 
mentioned. 

In a Synod of Cologn, held anno 
1300, it appears, that persons hung 
torches and letters annexed, at the gates 
of Abbies and Granges, in which they 
threatened fires, homicides, &c. unless a 
certain sum of money was given them 
in a limited time. k 



e W. Thorne, 1931. 2008, c. xxvii. sect. 7. 
h Smythe's Berkeley MS. p. 179. 
! MS. Harl. 607. p. 7. a. 
k Du Cange, v. Teda. 



SONG-SCHOOL. 



273 



CHAPTER LII. 



SONG-SCHOOL. a 



K This school," says Davies, "was 
built within the Church, and was neatly 
wainscotted within, round about, two 
yards high, and had a desk from one 
end of the school to the other to lay 
their books on. The floor was boarded 
for warmness, and round about it long 
forms were fastened in the ground for 
the children to sit on : and the place 
where the Master sat and taught was 
all close boarded for warmness. His 
office was to teach the six children to 
sing and play on the organs every prin- 
cipal day, when the Monks sang their 
high mass, and at even song ; b but 
when the Monks were at mattins, and 
service at midnight, one of them played 
on the organ himself and none else. 
The Master had his chamber adjoining 
to the song-school, where he lodged, 
and his diet in the Prior's hall, among 
the Prions gentlemen, and his other 
necessaries were supplied at the com- 
mon charge." 

Gregory had a whip, with which he 
threatened the young clerks and sing- 
ing boys, when they were out, and 
failed in the notes. They also fasted 
the day before they were to chant, and 
constantly ate beans. c Erasmus says 



a Musick was so prevalent in the Middle Age, 
that even whistling was a fashion and amusement, 
being asked for by an Archbishop.* 

b The Faucetum or pitch-pipe was used in some 
orders. Cowell, v. Faucetum. 

c Hawkins's Musick, i. 396. 

* Sir R. C. Hoare's Giraldus, ii. 84. 



"We have introduced into the 
Churches a certain elaborate theatrical 
species of Music, accompanied with a 
tumultuous diversity of voices. All is 
full of trumpets, cornets, pipes, fiddles, 
and singing. We come to Church as 
to a Play-house ; and for this purpose 
ample salaries are expended on organ- 
ists and societies of boys, whose whole 
time is wasted in learning to sing. Not 
to mention the great revenues which 
the Church squanders away on the sti- 
pends of singing-men, who are com- 
monly great drunkards, buffoons, and 
chosen from the lowest of the people. 
These fooleries are so agreeable to the 
Monks, especially in England, that 
youths, boys, &c. every morning sing 
to the organ the Mass of the Virgin 
Mary with the most harmonious modu- 
lations of voice, and the Bishops are 
obliged to keep choirs of this sort in 
their families.-" d 

At the singing and grammar-schools 
of the Convent of Norwich, the mas- 
ters, after induction by the Archdeacon, 
generally published the Bishop's inhi- 
bition, prohibiting all other persons to 
teach grammar or singing in the city. e 
Schools were attached to religious 
houses, as early as the seventh cen- 
tury/ 



d Warton's Sir T. Pope, 427. 

e Parkins's Norwich, 269. 

1 Taylor's Index Monast. pref. iii, 



274 



COMMON HOUSE, 



CHAPTER LIU. 



COMMON HOUSE. 



" On the right hand," says the same 
writer, " at going out of the cloysters 
into the infirmary was the Common 
House. It was instituted to have a 
tire constantly by day in winter for the 
use of the Monks, who were allowed no 
other fire ; but the master and officers 
of the house had their own several 
fires. A garden and bowling alley be- 
longed to the said house, towards the 
water, for the Novices sometimes to 
recreate themselves, leave being first 
granted ; their master attending to see 
to their good order. In this house 
once in the year, betwixt Martinmas 
and Christmas? the master of it kept 

a Dec. 14th. Du Cange says, — "The Antiphonce 
majores de 0, : the Antiphonars beginning by the 
interjection O, which are sung seven days before the 
Nativity of Christ." See too Cowell, v. 0. 



his O sapientia, a solemn banquet, at 
which the Prior and Convent were en- 
tertained with figs, raisins, ale, and 
cakes, but not to superfluity or excess. 
Here, with the Prior's leave, they 
warmed themselves when needful. 

Du Cange calls Pyrale the Con- 
ventual Hypocaust or fire place, in 
which the Chapter was celebrated, and 
where the rod of discipline was hung 
up [over the fire-place]. Eckhard has 
this passage : " being tied to a pillar of 
the Pyralis, he was severely beaten 
with rods." b The Chapter and Com- 
mon House were certainly, however, 
distinct rooms, at least in most Abbies. 



Du Cange, v. Pyralis. 



MINTS — EXCHEQUER. 



275 



CHAPTER LIV. 



MINTS EXCHEQUER. 



The Abbatial Mints, of early Saxon 
origin, had the stamps given them to 
coin with as incident to that privilege, 
which in some houses was soon lost. a 
The Abbot placed a keeper over it.b 
In a charter of Reading Abbey it seems 
the money was coined there at the Ab- 
bot's expence, and sent to the Exche- 
quer. 

Exchequer. At Ely was a chamber 
with a square table in it for calcula- 
tion^ It was also called Counting- 
room; or Cubiculum computatorium. Q 
Gervase of Tilbury describes an Exche- 
quer Table as square, about ten feet 
long and five broad, covered with a 
black clock, divided by stripes in the 
manner of a chess-board. f Summing, 
for want of the Arabick numerals, being 
a most difficult process, this cloth was 
for the arithmetical process by count- 
ers, of which the Monks struck several, 
still known by the name of Abbey 
Pieces. Mr. Pinkerton gives some 
account of the process, but it applies to 
one method only. One was, where the 

a Leake's Historical Account of English Money, 
pp. 17, 50. 

b Dec. Script. 1816. c Id. 92. 

d Angl. Sacr. i. 646. e Id. i. 779. 

f Du Cange, v. Saccarium. 



table had six lines. 1. Units, 2. Tens> 
3. Hundreds, 4. Thousands, 5. Ten- 
thousands, 6. Hundred-thousands. 
Where there were no lines, there were 
set in their stead, "so many counters 
as shall need, for each line one." In the 
Merchant } s Method, the lowest line 
served for pence, the next above for 
shillings, the third for pounds, the 
fourth for scores of pounds ; the space 
between was never occupied but by one 
counter, which above the pence signi- 
ged 6d. above the shillings 10s. above 
the pounds £10. The Auditor's Me- 
thod made one counter at the left of a 
line signify 5, at the right 10.S Before 
counters, stones were used, the Augrim 
stones of Chaucer, 11 the xprjcpoi and cal- 
culi of the Greeks and Romans, and 
the use of them was the first arith- 
metick taught to their children. Upon 
a bas-relief of the Capitol is a Trajan 
and Plotina ; near them is an Abacus in 
the hands of a young man, upon which 
are placed ranks of counters. 1 



e Mellis's Ground of Arts, b. 1. 1632. The in- 
structions occupy 43 pages. 

h Astle's WritiDg, 183. 

1 Diog. Laert. Solon, 39. Juven. xi. 131. Cay- 
lus, Rec. vii. pi. 7. No. 3, 4, et alii. 



T 2 



$76 



KITCHEN. 



CHAPTER LV. 



KITCHEN. 



Galbert, in the Life of Charles Earl 
of Flanders,a says, that the Church of 
St. Donatian was built round, and high 
roofed, with bricks and earthen mate- 
rials only that fire might not burn it. 
The Kitchen of Glastonbury, and others, 
was octagonal, had no wood about it, 
and the smoke escaped, or rather steam, 
either by concealed chimnies or from a 
turret in the roof. At Stanton-Har- 
court were shutters above, which were 
opened or shut according to the direc- 
tion of the wind. b 

Kitchens anciently were much larger 
concerns than at present ; as will ap- 
pear from the following details of their 
departments and apparatus. 

A large Pastery with five ovens new 
built, some of them fourteen feet 
deep. c 

A great Kitchen with four ranges, 
and a boiling place for small boiled 
meats A 

A Boiling House for the great 
boiler. e 

Bellows: for in the thirteenth cen- 
tury there were bellows-blowers in 
royal kitchens, who were also to take 
care, when the soup was on the fire, 
that it was neither burnt nor smoked. f 

Dresser. A term out of the Kitchen, 
given to the sideboard, furnished with 
plate.s 

TrigonL Versatile Gibbets for hang- 
ing cauldrons over the fire. h 

Perpendicula. Handles or chains, by 
which cauldrons were carried. 1 

Copper and Brazen Vessels, tinned as 



a N. 62. b Grose. 

* Nichols's Progresses, 3. This was the common 
size of even public ovens. 

u Nichols, ubi supra. e Nichols, ubi supra. 

f Joinville, i. 409. 

k Du Cange, v. Dressorum, Dretectorium. 

h Du Cange. 

' Thus an old Poet in Du Cange, 

" Cum perpendiculo defert ancillalebetim." 



now. k The Romans lined theirs with 
silver. 

Kitchen Towels. 1 

Irons, in the fire-places for a prodi- 
gious number of spits and stoves. m 

Large Chopping-blocks. n 

Massy wooden tables, hollowed out 
into a sort of basons, by way of kneading 
troughs for pastry. ° 

Poker and Tongs. Tongs, as now, 
but larger : the poker, called fire-forke, 
ended in a fork.P 

The process of malting is of classical 
antiquity ; <i and in the Brewhouses were 
coppers, mash-vats, leaden troughs (in- 
stead of wooden coolers), set in the 
ground or on curbes, &c. r 

In a Manuscript in the Ashmole Mu- 
seum, No. 1519. fol. 141. b. is the fol- 
lowing inventory of the minor culinary 
articles, viz. "In coquind, two pannes, a 
kettell, a littil pot, a bassen, a bassen 
with holis [i. e. a colander], a chawfer, 
a bras mortar and pestell, a chawfing 
dish, two spetis, a brandlet [and-iron], 
a skimmer, and a laddell of latten, xi 
platters, xi dishes, vii sawcers [sauce- 
pans], four potts, a great pann, ii rakis 
[racks], ii gridiryns, bufet, tongs, fire- 
forke [poker], tray, pott for sauces/' 
Jack [with wheels in Dugd. Monast. 
Eccl. Coll. iii. 186.] 

Udalrick, in the customs of the 
Clugniacks, mentions sleeves used in the 
Kitchen, lest the shirts of the brethren 
should be dirtied; and gloves, that 
they might not burn their hands in 
moving the caldron on the fire. s Ber- 

k Du Cange, v. Stagnatus. 

1 Du Cange, v. Torsoriwm Culince. 

m Britton's Architect. Antiq. ii. 78. n Ibid. 

Ibid. p Id. ii. p. 99. 

i Du Cange, v. Torra. 

r Du Cange, v. Tap-troughe. Warton's Sir T. 
Pope, 372. 

s Consuetud. 1, 2. The Nuns who cooked, had 
each a glass of wine on account of the work.* 

* Du Cange, v. Merus. 



KITCHEN. 



277 



nard, speaking of the same Order, says, 
that the Kitchen was swept clean with 
brooms every Saturday after Nones or 
Vespers ; and that, when the bell rung 
for putting on their shoes, the Monks 
walked into the Kitchen, to wash their 
hands and faces, and comb themselves. a 
Visitation injunctions order no one 
to enter the kitchen or cellar to eat 
there ; b and the Sempringham rule for 
the Nuns the same, with dispensation 
only to the Prsecentrix, to smooth the 
table, warm the ink, the Nuns Writers 
to dry the parchment, and the Sacrist 
to light the candle, or for other pur- 
poses (except the Cooks, or Infirmaress 
on duty) ; nor the former, when there 
was fire enough in the calefactory or 
common house. The wood for the 
Kitchen, water, herbs, and other neces- 
saries, were found by certain Lay-bro- 
thers and the Gardener, and the care of 
it was in the Nun-kitchener and Lay- 
sisters, who did the drudgery work. c 
A visitation injunction directs ahatche 



a Du Cange, v. Peripsima, Pexere. 
b Et nullus coquinam seu cellarium ingredi audeat, 
ant in eis comedere. MS. ut. sup. f. 26. b. 
c Monast.ii. 763. 9. 



with iron spikes to be made, in order to 
prevent the entrance of strange people. d 
A servant of the Almoner's attended 
here daily to collect the alms.e 

Fat pigs were killed in the winter as 
now/ 

At St. Alban's there were fifty-three 
farms devoted to the Kitchen, every 
one of which was valued at forty-six 
shillings per annum. A certain part 
was devoted to nine carriers, who 
brought provisions from London ; and 
the rest divided between the Cellarers 
of the Monks and the household. To 
these were added allowances from other 
manors ; the odd or fifty-third week 
was devoted to the culinary uten- 
sils. Similar regulations obtained else- 
where. The above Abbey had also a 
house at Yarmouth to lay up fish, 
especially herrings, for the use of the 
Convent.? 

Our ancestors at Martinmas salted 
vast loads of provisions for winter. 



d Monast. ii. 896. 

e MS. Cott. Claud. B. vi. 204 a. 

f " More sues proprio mactat December 
adultos." Chroniques d'Idace MS. Notices, v. 
231. (11th cent.) 

e M. Paris, 1007, 1057. 



278 



BAKEHOUSE. 



CHAPTER LVI. 



BAKEHOUSE 



The manner of preparing the Host 
is curious. The care of making it lay 
with the Infirm arer. The corn, if 
possible, was to be selected grain by 
grain. Then being put into a clean bag, 
made of good cloth, and used for this 
purpose only, it was carried to the mill 
by a servant of good character. When 
brought there, the servant saw that 
some other corn was ground first, that 
the flour for the Host might not be 
polluted with any fretts from the mill. 
When the flour was brought home, the 
Sacrist was to put a curtain round the 
vessel and place where the flour was 
to be boulted, and provide a trusty per- 
son to do this work. One of the ser- 
vants sprinkled the flour upon a very 
clean table with water, and moulded 
and kneaded it. The servant who held 
the irons, in which the Host was 
baked, had his hands covered with 
rochets ; and also while the Host was 
making and baking ; silence was also 
observed during the same processes. 
The man, however, who held the iron, 
might, if necessary, make short indica- 
tions to the servant who made the fire 
and brought the wood, which was to 
be very dry, and prepared on purpose 
many days before. a 

" The Host/' says Du Cange, " be- 
fore consecration was called Oblatce" 
These Oblatce, not consecrated, though 
blessed on the altar, were given by the 
Priest, before food in the Refectory, to 
those Monks who had not received the 
Sacrament. Oblatae of this kind were 
in the earliest ages made in an iron 
mould, called by the French Oblie, of a 
small pattern, in the form of money : 
and these, as well as the Host, were 

a Tyndal's Evesham, p. 185. 



made of the purest flour by the Monks 
themselves, with stated ceremonies and 
prayers, in a mould, marked with cha- 
racters. 11 Sometimes pious matrons, 
whom they used to call Sanctimonia, 
undertook the office of making them, 
which was without leaven. These un- 
consecrated Oblatce, there is reason to 
think, were sometimes placed upon 
the bosoms of the dead. They were 
baked in a clibanus, or oven. The 
Oblata was a name from thence given 
to very fine bread made of flour and 
water, baked at a fire, in iron presses. 
The Host, before consecration, was 
cut in the form of a cross, by an espe- 
cial knife, d and the vessels in which 
it was preserved made in the form 
of small towers. e The Host was mys- 
tically divided into nine parts, 
called Gloria, &c. f It was deemed he- 
resy to make the Host of fermented 
bread.s 

Loaves called Eulogies, were conse- 
crated before taking food, or dinner, 
by Bishops and Priests, and sent to 
Friends or Visitors in token of Com- 
munion; they were also taken when 
parties had disagreed, and were recon- 
ciled. 

At Christmas the people offered 
loaves to the Priest, from Leviticus 
(chapter 22), (i You shall offer two 
loaves to the Priest/' &c. 

Loaves made in some countries in 
the form of a wedge, and composed of 
finer flour, eggs, and milk, were pre- 
sented at Christmas by Tenants to 
their Landlords. 11 



b Ferramento characterato. 

c Du Cange, v. Oblata. 

, d Ibid. v. Lancea. e Ibid. v. Turres. 

1 Ibid. v. Gloria. % Ibid. v. Panis. 

h Ibid. v. Panis. 



GARDEN. 



2/9 



CHAPTER LVIL 



GARDEN. 



This place had arbours, and abound- 
ed with fruit-trees and herbs proper for 
making salves. 8 The Anglo-Saxon 
Gardens had cabbage-beds, commonly 
called wyrt-bedsp and the Gardener 
called Leac-weard, and Orceard-iveard ; 
whence leeks were probably much in 
use, and orchards not infrequent. The 
Gardens made by the Romans were 
also preserved ; d and the Anglo- 
Saxons much esteemed those in the su- 
burbs of towns. e Upon new building 
the latter, gardens were assigned to the 
tenements. f Apples, Pears, Beans, 
and other esculents grew in them ; s 
and pot-herbs [not allowed to be pick- 
ed upon Sunday] were plucked up by a 
wooden instrument. 11 John of Salis- 
bury mentions Flower-gardens, and 
others viridaria, where trees and whole- 
some herbs were planted. 1 Our ances- 
tors not only promenaded in their gar- 
dens, 11 but played at chess in them ; ] 
and slept in them, after dinner, in 
the open air, upon a pillow.m A walk 
in them after morning mass, or din- 
ner, was common. There were grass 
plats near houses, where the sick 
walked to have a purer air from the ex- 
halation of the flowers of the herbs. n 
" This done," (Prime) says an old 
Monk, u we are sent to work in a gar- 
den, to work and delve for near two 
hours more ;" ° and I find orders, (i that 
the Brothers do work in the gardens 



a Wart. i. 301. 455. «• Lye, v. Bedd. 

c Ibid. d X. Script. 1165. 

e X. Script. 1248. M. Paris, 993. 

f Script, p. Bed. 515. b. 

e Turner's Anglo-Saxons, iii. 63, 64. X. Scrip- 
tor. 2093. i» Dugdale's Monast. i. 91. 

5 Du Cange, v. Areola— Florarium— Lilietum. 

k For exercise or pleasure. XV. Script. 426. 
M. Paris, 682. » J. Rous, 207. 

m Neubrigens. p. 11. Script, p. Bed. 398. b. 

n Ibid. 155. b. ° Desid. Curiosa, i. 231. 



from morning till Vespers.^P But 
these were peculiarities of certain 
orders ; and the uses the Monks made 
of them, foreign to their obvious one, 
for esculents (and medical herbs), 
were to walk in ; <i exhibit shows in 
them ; r and have drinkings and dis- 
courses there. 55 Gardens of Priors and 
Cellarers are mentioned ; t and the 
Monks of Mailross had private gar- 
dens. The Visitors say to the Abbot, 
that they heard he permitted " from 
the year last past, his Monks to 
have portions, 11 pensions, and private 
gardens, against their injunctions." 
The religious begged a dispensation 
for these indulgences, and promised to 
distribute the remainder of their por- 
tions, as seemed fit for them. The 
Visitors permitted it upon these, among 
other conditions, that no one Monk 
should have more than another; that 
there should be no passage from gar- 
den to garden ; and that they should 
not keep a servant beyond a year. x 
The garden had a cross in it.y The 
best fruit-trees in Scotland are found 
in the gardens of the religious houses, 



p Ut fratres a mane usque ad vesperas faciant 
opera in ortis. MS. ut sup. 1519. f. 37. a. The 
house is styled S. Radgunde, of Prsemonstraten- 
sians perhaps. According to the Statutes, adds the 
Visitation. i Hist. Rames, C. lx. 

r Ne fratres ad nuptias transeant (let not the 
Brothers attem weddings)', sive gardinio spectacla 
de (setero exerceant (of Cokersand). MS.utsup. 
p. 321. a. Burial grounds were the most usual 
places. See Archaeol. xiii. 237. 

s Inhibemus potaciones sive discursus in ortis 
fieri. Id. MS. f. 37. a. 

1 X. Script. 2056. Monast. ii. 936. 

n Parcels of tythes given to farm (Lyndw. 167.) 
Separate revenues. Monast i. 297. 

x Ab anno jam elapso porciones, pensiones, ac 
hovtos particulares, contra dictae chartae tenorem, 
&c. hoc tamen servato, quod nemo fratrum ultra 
annum servitorem retineat. MS. Harl.2363. f. 
i — vi. 

y Warton's Hist, of English Poetry, i. p. 3016. 



280 



GARDEN, 



and they are all planted on circular 
causeways of flat grounds. 3 

Aubrey, speaking of the Nunnery 
of Kington St. Michael, co. Wilts, says, 
* f In the old hedges belonging to this 
Priory, and in the hedge of the Priory 
Downe, are yet a great number of bar- 
berry trees, which it is likely the Nuns 

* Newte's Tour, p. 156. 



used for confection, which art they 
taught the young ladies that were 
brought up there : for in those dayes 
the women were bred at nunneries ; no 
such school as Hackney or * * * 
for women till since the Reforma- 
tion .b" 



Britton's Beauties of Wilts, iii. 155. 



ABBEY GATE- 



DOVECOTE, &C. 



281 



CHAPTER LVIII. 



ABBEY GATE DOVECOTE, &C. 



Thomas Ruth all, Bishop of Durham, 
repaired the Abbey Gate, with the cell 
of the Porter, in which he slept, and 
over them made a Chapel, where all 
the Lay-men assembled twice a day to 
hear Mass, which was celebrated by 
Priests deputed by the Prior and Con- 
vent, and in the same building was a 
chamber in which the Priest slept. a 
This custom of Mass for workmen was 
not unusual elsewhere. 

Dovecote. This, at Bredsall, con- 
sisted of four hollow truncated hexago- 
nal cones, from a larger to a smaller 
size, placed one above another, and 
with a little turret at top. b They were 
distinct allocations. The Dovecote 
near the capital messuage of Tatter- 
wyke, called Turneyes Court, was let 
separately. 

Besides the offices treated of in this 



Angl. Sacr. i. 7 81. 

Topograph. Miscel. vol. i. where is a plate of it. 

Registr. Abbat. de Bath. MS. Harl. 3970. 



and the preceding chapters, there were, 
Vaccaria, or Cow-house, under an of- 
ficer, subject to the Kitchener, where 
none were to go without the abbatial 
licence ; d shoemakers' and other arti- 
ficers' shops ; necessary and modern 
offices ; stables, of which that for the 
guests at St. Alban^s was large, to con- 
tain nearly 300 horses, which animals 
the Monks kept in excellent condi- 
tion ; e (it had a lamp burning in it all 
night) ; f bathing-houses ; kilns, and 
others, of which the names alone explain 
the use, and it is needless for me to 
speak. 

d Sine abbatis licentia exeuntes ad vaccariam, 
sive ad alium quemcunque locum deinceps apos- 
tatas decrevimus. MS. Ashm. Mus. 1519. f. 
71. b. Cow pastures were of great use in pro- 
viding aliments for the younger Monks. M. Par. 
1002. Si male administraveri de vaccatione [vac- 
carius], coquinario incumbit emendare. MSS. 
Cott. Claud. B. vi. p. 200. b. 

e M. Paris, 737. Athon. 143. pi. ap. Fuller, 
B. vi. 

f M. Paris, 1035. 



282 



SACRISTY — VESTIARY — COSTUMES. 



CHAPTER LIX. 



SACRISTY VESTIARY COSTUMES. 



Double Vestries adjoining the Altar 
are mentioned; in one, the garments 
and Ceimelia of the Church were pre- 
served ; in the other, the priests at- 
tended to reading the sacred Books. 
What we should call Vestries were also 
the Secretaries or Sacristies, where 
Councils and Consistories were held, 
and the Priests sometimes resided. At 
Gloucester, the ancient Vestiary for 
the Church-robes is a series of stone 
closets, formed of Gothic arches front- 
ed with iron lattices, at one end of a 
transept ; but the clothes of the Monks 
were, if not in their chambers in the 
Dormitory, certainly deposited in a place 
called Vestiaria, perhaps the same as 
the particular room, sometimes under 
the Dormitory, called Pisalis, and espe- 
cially used for a Wardrobe. a 

Eustathius, condemned in the Gan- 
gran Council, was the first Author of 
the vestments of Monks. b The Hood 
and Tunick were intended to represent 
the six wings of the Cherubim, viz. the 
hood two, the sleeves two others, and 
the body part completed the number. 
Notwithstanding varieties of fashion, 
the articles were but few, and by the 
following description every habit may 
be easily identified. 

Mantle or Cloak. A large mantle, 
like a modern dragoon's cloak, without 
sleeves. d A hood is commonly at- 
tached. It was the same in Nuns. 
(Seethe Plate, fig. 1.) 

Cowl, is simply a hood; but is ap- 
plied by Stevens, &c. to a gown, with 
large loose sleeves like a counsellor's 
gown. (See fig. 2.) 

Rochet. Simply two strips hanging 
before and behind (see fig. 3), open at 
the sides. See also Tabard, p. 284. 



a Du Cange, v. Secretarium, Pisalis, Vestiaria. 

b Le Vseu de Jacob, 827- 

c Reyner, 76. D'Emilliane, 223, et alii. 

'' Du Cange, v. Cuculla, culla. 



Scapidary, a sleeveless tunick, which 
sat close to the skin e (see fig. 4), not- 
withstanding other definitions of it. 
It signified armour against the devil/ 
and was given to the Monks that they 
might spare their cloaks, when at 
work.s 

Wimple. A dress covering the neck 
and coming close under the chin (see 
fig. 5). Of this hereafter, p. 284. 

Canon's Cap, see fig. 6. 

Tunicks. Under garments, in the 
fashion of shirts (sometimes with 
sleeves, like those of coats), only sitting 
closer to the body. They resembled 
a mail-jacket in form, the longer reach- 
ing to the ancles, the shorter to the 
knees. The Anglo-Saxon Monks wore 
both these under the cowl. 11 

Frock, a long and ample gown with 
sleeves. 1 It mystically signified the 
protection of God. k 

Stamin. The Benedictines, instead 
of a penitentiary hair shirt, 1 used what 
Davies calls Stamins, i. e. shirts made 
of woollen and linen. Perhaps it was 
the same same as the inner tunick ; for 
some orders, as the Franciscan, wore 
only a woollen tunick next the skin. m 

Breeches. The Highland Campestre, 
or fillibeg, was probably the Celtick 
dress of the British Monks, for the 
Irish in the 14th century did not wear 
breeches. 11 The fillibeg occurs in later 
orders, as do Stockings and Breeches 
in one piece among the Anglo-Saxon 
Monks,P and Breeches. - 



e Specimen Monachologiae, Tab. ii. fig. 9 to 13. 
f D'Emilliane' s Monastical Orders, p. 223. 
8 Du Cange, v. Scapulare. 

h Strutt's Dresses, i. 65. Kirtles were kinds of 
tunicks often substituted for shirts. Id. ii. 349. 
1 Du Cange, v. Cuculla, culla. 
k D'Emilliane, ubi supra. 
1 Du Cange, v. Staminea. 
m Specimen Monachologiae, p. 20. 
n Froissart, x. 161. 
Specimen Monachologiae, plates. 
p Strutt, i. 65. 'Du Cange, v. Infirmitates. 





7// f/((.jf? >//'/ // f ' /t JJ/ //' 




.l.-L>&e/7 t't///'fr // r ■ / /f >■///• 




,/.. ///,///->/ 



lu£n*t saibi. 



MONASTICK C OSTIUM E 



SACRISTY — VESTIARY — COSTUMES. 



283 



Stockings were usual. a 

Boots. Leathern Boot-stockings 
were worn by Cuthbert, b and they ap- 
pear to have given rise to all boots/ 1 
which were first substituted for Sotu- 
laria, fastened with thongs, in the 12th 
century at St. Alban's, d from superior 
convenience in more expeditious dress- 
ing, not soiling the hands in putting on, 
&c. The Abbot's boot, like the sign 
of the leg, was no doubt like that of 
Henry VI. engraved in Whitaker^s 
Craven Deanery (p. 106), buttoned up 
the side as now gaiters. 

Shoes. Socks. Shoes occur in some 
orders/ and Slippers or Socks f made 
of felt/ for day or night. The old Irish 
Monks wore Brogues. 11 Shoe-cleaning 
was strictly enjoined, and was done by 
a man on purpose, called Frico.^ The 
process merely consisted in washing 
them, and then applying soap, grease, 
or other unctuous materials . k Black- 
ing is first mentioned in the 16th cen- 
tury. We then hear of " a pair of 
pumps on his feet, with a cross, cut at 
the toes for corns, not nue indeed, but 
cleanly blakt with soot, and shining 
like a shoeing horn." 1 It was proba- 
bly brought from Italy : for it is said, 
that the shoes of the Neapolitan Fac- 
tors upon the exchange in London 
shone with blacking." 1 

Clogs. Pattens or ironed Socks, from 
noise, were forbidden to certain ca- 
nons, 11 and Bishop Jewel mentions 
some Monks and Friars stalking upon 
patens. Pattens were not usually 
worn by men.P One Rule orders 
wooden clogs, lest the bed-clothes 
should be soiled by dirty feet. - 

Knife. Among the Grandmontines 



a Du Cange, v. Pedules. b Id. v. Tibrucus. 

c Id. v. Osa. d M. Paris, 1044. 

e Specimen Monachologise, Tab. iii. fig. 7. 
f Du Cange, v. Noctumales, Diurnales. 
s Sometimes at least. Du Cange, v. Feltrum, 
Veltro. h Id. v. Fico. 

1 Id. v. Frico. 

k XV. Scriptor. 260. Du Cange, v. Sapo-Sevum. 
1 Nichols's Progresses, ii. 31. 
m Howell's Letters, 55. 
n Du Cange, v. Patinus. 
Defence of his Apology, p. 322. 
v Antiq. Repert. ii. 275. 
i Du Cange, v. Cusjius, 



it was worn with a steel, and without 
ornament. r Folding knives are an- 
cient. 8 

Comb. We hear of ivory combs,t 
but the Grandmontine were to be of 
horn, and the case of small value. u 
Among the Romans they were x made 
of box or ivory ; and both among them, 
and in the middle ages, they were 
adorned with bas-reliefs between the 
rows of teeth, which were, as now, of 
unequal size,y sometimes with only 
studs. 2 The ancient Germans made 
combs of horse-tail. aa The Britons had 
combs. bb The ivory was partly gilt in 
some instances/ and that material 
formed the comb used by the Clerks 
and Monks before officiating at Massed 
St. Neot's comb was two fingers broad, 
made of a small bone, with the teeth 
of fish, inserted like those of the jaws of 
the sea- wolf.e e We also hear of a " faire 
kemb, with a spoonge deintly dipt in a 
little capon^s grease," which made the 
hair shine, like a mallards wing. ff 
Neglect of combing the hair was deem • 
ed by the Romans a token of military 
bravery,£g and it was not usual here 
every day till the Anglo-Norman 
times, hh except among the Danes, who 
were great fops in this respect. After- 
wards it was deemed a great luxury to 
have the hair combed, 11 and thought 
essential to have it well done. kk 

Handkerchief. Of Roman 11 and An- 
glo-Saxon 111111 origin, was worn on the 
left side. nn 

Needle-case, occurs in the Grand- 



r Marteni Anecdota, iv. Col. 1234. 

s Du Cange, v. Investitura. 

t Id. v. Pecten. u Marten, ubi supra. 

x Martial, Apophor. xxv. Juven. v. s. 14. 1. 195. 

y Montfaucon, Supplem. iii. c. 5. Archseologia, 
xv. pi. xli. z Strutt's Dresses, pi. xci. 

aa Plin. ix. 45. 

bb Nennius in XV. Scriptor. 108. 

cc Id. 22.9. 781. dd Du Cange, v. Pecten, &c. 

ee Leland's Collect, iii. 13. 

ff Nichols's Progresses, i. 30. 

es Juven. ubi supra. hh Eadm. 23. 

u Joinville, i. 350. Froissart, v. 21. 

kk Du Cange, v. Pecten. 

11 Apul. Oper. ii. 57, 59, 60. Ed. Biss. Suet, in 
Nero, xxii. Juvenal, iv. Sat. xi. v. 193. 

mm Du Cange, v. Facitergium, Sudarium, Muc- 
cinimn, &c. 

un Fuller's Church Hist. B. vi. p. 290. Du 
Cange, v. Mappula. 



284 



SACRISTY — VESTIARY — COSTUMES. 



montine rule before quoted. It was 
usual for all persons to carry them, in 
order to take up loose stitches, &c. a 

Girdles, ought to have been leather 
straps, sometimes mere ropes. There 
was great abuse in wearing fur or silk 
girdles, adorned with gold or silver. b 

Reliquaries. Relicks enclosed in 
little crosses, boxes, &c. were divided 
by the Sacrist, among the Monks, to 
be worn suspended from the neck. c 

Tippets. Tippets were garments of 
both sexes, worn about the neck, 
which, though often narrow, in the end 
became so large, that they soon sup- 
plied the place of mantles. d 

Tabards, were garments covering the 
front of the body and back, but open 
on both sides : e it is difficult to distin- 
guish this robe from the Rochet, which 
was sometimes without sleeves, and 
open on the sides. Indeed the Rochet 
was only a sleeved Tabard sewed up a 
short way under the arm-pits. f 

Head-coverings. Among the Monks 
this was the hood, but Canons had a 
particular cap s or bonnet, resembling 
that worn by the Scots. 11 

a Strutt's Dresses, pi. 132. 

b Zonam de serico cum apparatu argenteo. MS. 
Harl. 1005, f. 69. b. Forbidden, MS. Harl. 328, 
f. 9. and by canons. 

c Du Cange, v. Nuxa, Capsa. 

d Strutt's Dresses, ii. 377. 

e Id. p. 151. f Id. 373 and plates. 

£ This was an ancient difference of costume 
from Monks. Reyner, 76. 

h St. Louis fastened his bonnet with a ribband, 
tied in a bow in front ; whence originated Cockades. 
Maillot, iii. 109, pi. xxxv. f. 2. 

#%^ 



Tonsure. The Tonsure signified the 
crown of thorns worn by our Saviour, 1 
and also denoted humility, and the 
service of God, slaves being shorn ; k 
but though the Westerns used a small 
circle of short hair round the head, 
called the Tonsure of St. Peter, some 
orders had dropped it in the 14th cen- 
tury. 1 Various Tonsures appear: 

1. The hair preserved with only a 
bald spot upon the crown of the head. 

2. A bristly head with a small circle. 

3. Shorn, with a hemisphere of hair. 

4. Shorn, with a continuous circle of 
hair. 

5. Shorn, with an interrupted circle. m 

The Nuns had similar habits, except 
in some rules. 

Pilches? i. e. Petticoats, and 
Veils. Wimples. The first is well 
known ; the latter is the habit which 
comes up to the chin, and covers the 
bosom. The two were sometimes 
united ; sometimes one was substituted 
for the other.o The Wimple, accord- 
ing to Strutt, appeared about the 12th 
century .P 



1 D'Emilliane, ubi supra. 

k Maillot, Costumes, iii. 16. 

1 Id. iii. 16. 139. 

m Specimen Monachologise, Tab. i. fig. 1 to 5. 
See Reyner, 112. 

n From Pellicium, a garment made of skins, or 
furs, but the skins of lambs or sheep only allowed 
to the nuns. The same as Tippets in the first co- 
lumn of this page. 

Strutt, pi. 40. Cotgrave, v. Guimple. 

p Maillot, iii. 118, 121, 134, 175. 





SACRISTY— VESTIARY — COSTUMES, 



285 



In the preceding Plate, Fig. 1, is St. 
Radegonde from Mezeray in Maillot 
(vol. iii. pi. iii. fig. 7) 5 to illustrate the 
Veil and Wimple of a British Nun in 
the sixth century. 

Fig. 2, is St. Bathilde in the seventh 
century, from the same Writers (vol. 
iii. pi. vi. fig. 5), for the like illustration. 

Fig. 3, is a Hermits Costume, from 
a wood-cut in the Golden Legend^ 
printed in 1503. 



In a Manuscript communicated by 
Mr. Nichols is the following passage 
concerning Abbots' Mitres. When Ab- 
bots began to wear the Mitre, the 
Bishops complained bitterly, that their 
privileges were invaded by the Monks, 
and they were shocked, above all, that 
there was no distinction between them 
in the Councils and Synods. On this 
occasion, Pope Clement IV. ordered 
that Abbots should wear the Mitre 
embroidered with gold only, and leave 



precious stones for Bishops. This law 
was not observed. See p. 293. 

There were great abuses of dress 
among the Monasticks, but two singu- 
larities shall only be adduced. The first 
is mentioned by Petrarch, and in part 
at least applies to the religious. " Who 
can see," says he, u with patience, 
hoods with wings, peruques with tails 
toupees ; men frizzed up with ivory- 
headed pins, such as the women put 
in their hair ; and bellies confined with 
stays (ressorts), a species of torture 
which was imposed on the martyrs ?" a 
Aldhelm, speaking of Nuns, says, that 
they had not only Acus Discriminates, 
or Hair-bodkins, but Trinkets hanging 
from the neck, ornamented with cres- 
cents, set with jewels, and smelling- 
bottles, or boxes. h The excesses of the 
Monks are regularly catalogued by 
Reyner, c and the secular Clergy are 
thus reprobated in an old song : 



i( Ye poope holy Prestis full of presumpcion, 
With your wyde furrid hodes, voyd of discretion, 
Unto your owyn preching of contrary condicion, 
Which causith the people to lesse devocion. 

" Avaunced by symony in cetees and townys, 

Make shorter your taylis and broder your crownis, 

Leve your short stuffide doubelettes and your pleyted gownis, 

And kepe your own howsing, and passe not your boundis." d 



The names of the Monks were sewed 
in their frocks, hoods, shirts, and 
breeches ; e and the clothes were also 
pronounced in danger of " being cor- 
rupte and spylte by reason of moths, 
or any other chaunse, if they were not 
beaten and layde abrode.^ f The old 
ones were given to the poor, or sold if 
the Convent was in debt.s According 
to Wolsey's Decretals, the garments 
were to be cleaned by some of the Ca- 
nons, and a fuller on purpose ; and the 
washing was done by a lay-brother, 



a Memoires, iii. 675. 

b Olfactoriola Narcli. Du Cange (v. Matricu- 
larii) has the passage. 

c Append. 105. d MS. Had. 372, fol. 113. 

e Custumale Roffense, 31, 32. 

f MS. Bodl. 3010 (De vita Monachorum). 

s Lyndw. 205. 



suited to this work. h The admission of 
women for washing has been already 
mentioned, as well as the Taylor's shop 
for mending. By the Gilbertine Rule 
the washing and mending were to be 
done by the Lay-sisters. 1 

Instead of ironing, the clothes were 
polished by a glass cylinder, called a 
Lischa. k Heated irons are recent. 
Large stones inscribed with a Scripture 
text were used about the reigns of Eli- 
zabeth and the first James. 1 One of 
these was in the Museum of the late 
Sir Ashton Lever. 



h Dugdale's Monast. ii. 566. 

! Fol. 720, 762. k Du Cange, in voce. 

1 Whitaker's Craven Deanery, p. 401. Note. 



286 



SACRISTY— VESTIARY — COSTUMES, 



Articles of Clothing belonging to the 
several Orders.* 

Augustinian Canons. A white tunick, 
with a linen gown under a black cloak, 
and a hood covering the head, neck, and 
shoulders. See the Plate, p. 282, fig. 
6.) 

The costumes of France and Eng- 
land were the same, at least till after 
the twelfth century. b In the ninth 
century the Canons were almost all 
shorn, and wore a mantle and two tu- 
nicks, one down to the heels, the upper 
only to the mid-leg : between the two 
the stole went round the neck ; and in 
their hands they carried the orarium. c 

Augustinian Canoness. In the Plate, 
(p. 282, fig. 5) she has a long cowl, 
hood, and wimple ; a short upper tu- 
nick or rochet, over a long one. 

Augustinian Eremite. In the house, 
a white tunick, and scapulary over it. 
In the Choir or out of doors, a sleeved 
cowl and large hood, both black ; the 
hood round before, and hanging to the 
waist in a point, girt with a black lea- 
ther thong. (See the Plate, p. 282, fig. 
2.) [Thus Steevens : the cowl is the 
gown, which is the costume of hermits 
in the cuts of the Golden Legend. (See 
the Plate, p. 284, fig. 3.) In the Spe- 
cimen Monachologise, they wear a 
black round quinque partite cap ; naked 
neck ; fillibeg, instead of breeches ; 
slippers ; black cloth tunick, tied with 
a black thong ; hood, as before, a black 
mantle down to the thighs, and woollen 
shirt.] d 

Augustinian Eremite Nun. A hood 
black ; white wimple ; and black long 
tunick, tied with a black thong. 

Benedictines, ee As for the habits of 
the Monks," says Steevens, " they 
were left to the discretion of the Ab- 
bots, according to the nature of the 
country, as it was either hotter or 
colder. In temperate climates a cowl 



a The authority, where not otherwise expressed, 
is Steevens's Translation of Dugdale's Monasticon. 
b Maillot, iii. 66. c Id. pi. xiv. 

d P. 24. 



and a tunick were sufficient ; the cowl 
thicker for winter and thinner for sum- 
mer ; and a scapular to work in. The 
scapular was the upper garment during 
the time of labour, which was put off, 
and the cowl worn during the rest of 
the day. Every one had two tunicks 
and two cowls, either to change at 
night or to wash them. The stuff they 
were made of was the cheapest the 
country afforded. To the end, that no 
man might have any property, that is, 
any thing he could call his own, the 
Abbots found them all with every thing 
that was necessary, that is, besides the 
habit, a handkerchief, a knife, a needle, 
a steel pen, and tablets to write. Their 
beds were a mat, a straw bed, a piece 
of serge, a blanket, and a pillow. 

" St. Benedict did not decide of what 
colour the habit should be ; but it ap- 
pears by ancient pictures, that the gar- 
ment the first Benedictines wore was 
white, and the scapular black. That 
scapular was not of the same shape, 
that those of the same order do use at 
present. It was more like the jerkins 
worn by mariners, saving that it was 
not open before, but only a little in the 
sides. That sort of garment had been 
long before the common garment of the 
poor and of peasants/' (Seethe Plate, 
p. 282, fig. 4.) [Thus Steevens : but in 
the ancient Benedictines, he has for- 
gotten a coif upon the head. The 
Specimen Monachologiee clothes the 
Benedictine Monk in breeches; a black 
woollen robe, covering the whole body 
and feet ; hood loose, obtuse, oval, and 
broad ; scapulary plain, of the breadth 
of the abdomen ; girdle broad ; a black 
cowl descending to the ancles; inner 
tunicks in general black ; shirt narrow 
at the wrist.] e But in the house the 
Monk lays aside the hood, girds his 
scapulary, and wears a crested or two- 
fold cap on the head. f 

Benedictine Nun. A black robe, with 
a scapular of the same, and under the 
black robe, a tunick of wool that has 
not been dyed ; others wear the tunick 

c Maillot, iii. 14. f Id. 15. 



SACRISTY— VESTIARY — COSTUMES. 



287 



quite white. In the choir, or upon so- 
lemn occasions, they wear over all a 
black cowl, like that of the Monks. 
Thus Steevens. [A black veil and 
white wimple, as in the Plate, p. 282, 
fig. 5.] a 

Brigettine Nun and Friers. The sis- 
ters had two shifts of white coarse 
woollen, one to wear, and the other to 
wash ; a tunick of coarse grey woollen, 
a cowl of the same, and a mantle made 
fast with a wooden button, which 
mantle in the winter was lined with 
lamb-skins. For their head attire they 
had a caul or coif covering their fore- 
heads, and coming down close to the 
cheeks, fastened on the top of the head 
with a pin : over that coif or hood a 
veil of black cloth, fastened with three 
pins, and on the black veil a crown 
or circle of white linen, with five 
small red pieces on it [for the five 
wounds of Christ], which crown was 
also pinned on. 

The Friers had two shirts of white 
coarse woollen, a tunick of coarse 
grey woollen, a cowl of the same, to 
which was attached a hood and a mantle 
on the left side of it. The Priests wore 
a red cross in memory of our Saviour's 
passion, and in the midst of the cross 
a bit of white cloth in form of a host, 
in memory of the Holy Sacrifice which 
they daily offered. The Deacons wore 
a white circle, to represent the wisdom 
of the Fathers of the Church ; and on 
that circle four red pieces of the form 
of fiery tongues ; and the Lay-brothers 
a white cross to betoken innocence, in 
which were five little red pieces for the 
five wounds of Christ. 

Carmelites. Their first habit was 
white, as well as their mantles, of 
which the bottom was laced thick with 
many yellow bands ; an ornament sup- 
pressed by Honorius IV. They then 
assumed the robe of the Minims, 
and a white mantle. b In the Speci- 
men Monachologiee, c the costume is 
breeches, a tunick, and white mantle, 
with loose hood of the length of the 



a Maillot, iii. 15. 



Id. P. 116. 



P. 27. 



tunick, another tunick shorter, a linen 
shirt, and woollen under-waitcoast. 

The Carmelite Nun, besides her head, 
veiled her face, and in the choir wore a 
longer cowl than the Friars. d 

Carthusians. Their bed, says Stee- 
vens, is to be straw, and on it a felt or 
coarse cloth ; their pillow a covering of 
the coarsest sheep-skins and cloth ; 
their clothing two hair-cloths, two 
cowls, two pair of hose, cloak, &c. all 
coarse. 

Cistercians. Their habit was a white 
robe in the nature of a cassock, with a 
black scapular and hood ; their garment 
was girt with a black girdle of wool : 
in the Choir they had over it a white 
cowl, and over it a hood, with a rochet 
hanging down round before to the 
waist, and in a point behind to the calf 
of the leg ; and when they went abroad 
they wore a cowl and a great hood, all 
black ; which was also the Choir habit. 
The Lay-brothers were clad in dark 
colour, their scapular hung down about 
a foot in length before, and was 
rounded at the bottom. Their hood 
was like that which the Priests wore 
over their cowl, excepting the differ- 
ence of the colour. In the Choir, they 
wore a cloak or mantle reaching to the 
ground, of the same colour as the habit. 
The Novices, who were clerks, wore the 
same habit in the Church, but it was 
all white. Their scapular was not of 
the same length in all places ; for some- 
times it reached only half way down 
the thigh, in others to the mid-leg, or 
even to the heels. 

Cistercian Nuns. A white tunick, a 
black scapular and girdle. In the Choir, 
most of them wore cowls, others only 
mantles. The habits of the Lay-sisters 
were of a dark colour. The Noviciates 
were clad in white. [Add a black veil 
and white wimple.] 

Clugniacks. A large full-sleeved cowl; 
a hood down to the elbows ; a rochet or 
tabard from the chin to the feet, over a 
long tunick. 

Dominicans. A white woollen tunick, 



Specimen Monacliologise, p. 29. 



288 



SACRISTY — VESTIARY — COSTUMES. 



bound with a thong ; a hood ; a white 
collar ; a long black woollen cowl, when 
they went out, with a hood and pectoral 
bill, and a dorsal black, covering the 
inner white dress. Inner vestments 
chiefly white. The Lay-brothers had 
no cowl, and never laid aside the hood 
and black scapulary. 

The Dominican Nun, except a black 
veil, had the same habit. a The Nun in 
the Plate (p. 282, fig. 5.) has the arms 
crossed upon the bosom. This was the 
posture of a Priest, b and occurs in va- 
rious images of the Middle Age. 

Franciscans, or Grey Friers, from 
their habit ; a long grey coat down to 
their heels, with a hood ; see the Plate, 
p. 282, fig. 1.) girdle of cord ; c and 
were under an obligation of wearing 
cloth next to their very skin night and 
day. d Steevens says, from the Rule, 
that the Habit of Probation was two 
tunicks without a hood, a girdle, 
breeches, and cloak to the waist, unless 
God upon any occasion thought good 
to order it otherwise. When the year 
of Probation was expired, they were to 
have one tunick with a hood, and ano- 
ther without a hood, if they would have 
them. Upon necessity, they were to 
be shod, but to adopt mean habits, and 
even mendthem with sacks and scraps. 
In the Specimen Monachologi6e, e they 
have no breeches, a tunick, a moveable 
hood, with an appendage, pendent be- 
fore and behind, hanging below a white 
linen robe ; no scapular ; but a cloak, 
hanging below the loins, fastened at the 
bosom with a bone fibula. No shirt, 
only a woollen under waistcoat. The 
tunick was full of pockets for receiving 
edibles, &c. for they were called Men- 
dicants because pretending to Evange- 
lical perfection, and begged from door 
to door. f 

The Franciscan Nun, or Minoress or 
Poor Clare, wore a black veil, but 
otherwise imitated the males. s 

Friers of the Sack. The name of the 



Specimen Monachologise, p. 16-18. 

M.Paris, 720. 

Somner's Canterbury, pp. 99, 100. 

Collectanea Anglo-Minoritica, p. 2. 

P. 20. f Somner's Canterbury, 99, 100. 

Specimen Monachologise, p. 21. 



Sack, says Steevens, was given them 
because they wore garments made like 
sacks, or from their scapulary being 
made of the same sort of coarse cloth 
as sacks ; but their true name was 
Friers of the Penance of Jesus Christ. 
Their Habit was made like that of the 
Capuchins. They went bare legged and 
had only wooden sandals on their feet. 
[The head was partially shorn; but they 
retained the beard and mustachoes on 
their upper lips. Neck and posteriors 
naked ; a tunick, hood (funnel formed) 
no scapulary. Thus the Specimen 
Monachologise h of Capuchins ; but the 
tunick in Steevens is surmounted with 
a tabard of different colours. They are 
said to have had pockets in the hood, 
and under the arms.] * 

The following beastly practices are 
mentioned of the Capuchins : "Tunica 
replicata, absque impedimento cacat et 
mingit, anum fune abstergit." And 
again : " Aurum et argentum non tangit, 
sed venatur pediculos, quibus vexatur 
et quos non occidit." k 

The Capuchin Nun had an upper veil 
black ; the lower white ; naked neck ; 
on the breast a white handkerchief. 1 

In Steevens, the Nun of the Order of 
Penance has the veil as above ; a narrow 
half mantle only behind, a girdle, tu- 
nick, and bare feet with wooden clogs. 
Gilber tines. The garments of the 
Canons were to be three tunicks, one 
coat of full grown lamb-skins, and a 
white cloak sewed before, four fingers 
in breadth, and having furs to put on 
if the cloak were not furred, and hood 
lined with lamb -skins, and two pair of 
stockings ; a pair of woollen socks, and 
day-shoes and night-slippers ; as also a 
linen cloak for divine service. At time 
of work they had a white scapulary. 
Their beds like the Cistercian Monks. 
— Exceptions were made in the case of 
donation of habits. 

The Prior and Cellarer had boots, 
reaching a little above their knees to ride 
in; the Dorterer kept two or three other 
pairs of boots for the use of such at rode 
out, who were to restore them at their re- 

h Specimen Monachologise, p. 22. 
. ' Specimen Monachologiae, 22. k Id. 22, 23. 

1 Ibid. 



SACKISTY — VESTIARY — COSTUMES. 



289 



turn. All the shoes of the Canons 
were of red leather, and of a moderate 
height. 

Gilbertine Nuns. Five tunicks ; three 
for labour, and two large, i. e. cowls to 
wear in the Cloister, Church, Chapter, 
Refectory, and Dormitory, and a sca- 
pulary for labour. All "had a coat of 
lamb-skins, and a shift of coarse cloth 
if they would, and black linen caps. 
All cloths for their hoods were black 
and coarse, and so their veils. 

Premonstratensians. The Common 
Habit was not inelegant, viz. a tunick 
girt round the waist, a leaf-formed 
hood, and head-part to throw back ; and 
a bonnet in fashion at the end of the 
eleventh centurv. a (See the Plate, p. 
282, fig. 3.) 

Trinitarians. The Rule says, they 
were to have white woollen vestments; 
and a pilch and breeches each, which 
they were not to put off in bed. They 
were not to have feather beds, only pil- 
lows. b In the Specimen Monacholo- 
giee, the costume is a hemispherical 
tonsure, a flllibeg, white woollen tunick 
tied with a black thong, a loose white 
hood, with a short round pectoral hang- 
ing before, a longer pointed dorsal be- 
hind. A close scapulary shorter than 
the tunick. A mantle and hood, besides 
that of the tunick. The scapulary and 
left side of the mantle marked with a 
red and blue cross, a shirt and wool- 
len vest. 

When one of this Order went abroad, 
he fed only upon tripe. u The husband, 
whose home,'* says Baron Bozn, "a Tri- 
nitarian Monk frequented, should re- 
member the horned stag, who always 
accompanied the fathers of the species, 
John cle Matha and Felix a Yalois, and 
warned all of then' impending danger " c 

Knight Templar. The following ac- 
count is from Nichols's Leicestershire, 
in. p. 943. 

(i As for their habit on their heads, 
they wore linen coifs (like to the Ser- 
jeants at Law) and red caps close over 
them ; on their bodies shirts of mail, 
and swords girded unto them with a 

a Maillot, iii. p. 71, 72, pi. sxii. fig, 4. 

b Dugd. Mcraast. ii. 830. 

c Specimen Mcnachologise, 25, 26. 



broad belt ; over all which they had a 
white cloak reaching to the ground, 
with a red cross on the left shoulder, 
partly to the end that having such a 
triumphal figure instead of a buckler, 
they should not nee from any infidel, 
whilst they were armed with so great a 
protection, and that to the intent they 
mi^ht be distinguished from other re- 
ligious persons ; and that they used to 
wear their beards of a great length 
(whereas most other religious orders 
shaved), appears from the testimony of 
King Edward II. made in behalf of an 
eminent servant in his court. The 
King, &c. a Since our beloved servant 
Peter Auger, bearer of these presents, 
has made a vow, that he will not shave 
his beard, until he has made a pilgrim- 
age in a certain place in foreign parts, 
and the said Peter is afraid that some 
persons, by reason of his long beard, 
will take him for a Templar and use 
him ill ; we therefore grant him this 
testimony, that he never was a Tem- 
plar, only a servant of our chamber, 
and only wears a long beard for the 
reason before stated." 

Maillot says, " The Templars at 
first used without distinction all colours 
in their dress, differing in that from the 
religious, whom they did not distin- 
guish from the Templars but by the 
colour ; but the Council of Troves, in 
1146, when they adopted the rule com- 
posed by Bernard, ordered that they 
should wear the white cross as well as 
the cloak, to which Eugene III. added 
a red cross ; which cloak descended 
almost to the feet. Upon the head 
they wore a cap, like a sal a de or bowl- 
scull cap. The long beard a Y orientate 
was the distinctive mark of this Order ; 
and their standard was half black, half 
white. d 

Knights Hospitalers. Pope Honorius 
III. assigned to them for their dress, a 
black mantle with a white cross in the 
fore-part thereof. e The rest of the 
dress, consists of a chapeau in the he- 
raldick form, a surcote, and mail, and 
plated armour mixed, with a long sword 
and belt round the waist. 

d Costumes, 123, pi. 38. f. 11. 
e Nichols's Leicestershire, vol. iii. 
U 



290 



ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME. 



CHAPTER LX. 



CURIOUS AND SELECT COSTUMES OF VARIOUS ECCLESIASTICKS. 



The following interesting Chapter was 
kindly contributed by an intelligent 
and industrious Artist; who sedu- 
lously applied the labours of a long 
professional life to the study of our 
National Antiquities, and more es- 
pecially those which relate to our 
Ecclesiastical and Monastic Remains. 



It being understood that I had de- 
voted much of my time to the study of 
our ancient Costume, civil, military, 
ecclesiastical, and regal, by sketches 
(pencilled drawings taken from the ori- 
ginals on the spot, and afterwards made 
into finished drawings,) done from such 
remains, exemplified in sculptures, 
paintings, and brasses, I was referred 
to, by my old and worthy friend Mr. 
Nichols, in order to make some select 
drawings for the Ecclesiastical Cos- 
tumes, with explanations ; which are 
submitted in the following Plates, en- 
graved by Mr. James Basire, junior, 
under my superintendence and cor- 
rections. 

J. Carter. 



Specimens of English Ecclesi- 
astical Costume, from the 
earliest period down to the 
Sixteenth Century, selected 
from Sculptures, Paintings, 
and Brasses remaining in this 
Kingdom. 



Among the various selections from 
our antiquities, in series arranged chro- 
nologically, that of Ecclesiastical Cos- 
tume has not hitherto engaged parti- 
cular attention. Whether the pursuit 
has not interested any exploratory hand, 
or that such subjects are held as too 
much connected with the original reli- 



gion of the country, from an over- 
zealous study on the features thereof 
raising an interest incompatible with 
the present orthodox precepts of the 
Established Church, it is rather difficult 
to determine. With impartial minds, 
not swayed by bigoted impressions, 
such ideas must give way to more 
useful study, guided by the opinion 
that every line of information, whether 
it squares exactly with our real senti- 
ments, must impart something that 
merits notice ; no part of science 
should be avoided, or lost ; and surely, 
that vestige, which once rendered this 
land magnificent, if it deserves no other 
appellation, ought to engage attention. 
On such grounds, therefore, the present 
Collection is submitted ; not alone to 
exhibit the variety of Habits worn at 
different periods, but as examples of 
the Progress of the Arts of Sculpture, 
Painting, &c. then prevailing. And it 
may be asserted that our ancestors 
were conspicuously eminent for more 
enlightened ideas than those of Laws 
and Arms, which seem to be all the 
mental gifts allowed them, though their 
descending gigantic and splendid works 
of Architecture are standing in majestic 
state still before us. Why therefore 
not give them credit for possessing 
every other gift enriching the human 
sense then, as well as now, by those 
who live ? To think or maintain opi- 
nions to the contrary, is to pass but a 
cold compliment on the capabilities of 
Englishmen at any period ! Thus pre- 
mising, we enter on the main purpose 
of the ensuing objects, which is to re- 
store, though in the smallest degree, a 
regular representation of Antient Reli- 
gious Costume, in aid of historical in- 
formation, both in Literature and the 
Arts, before the originals are oblite- 
rated from the public eye, by disfigure- 
ment or utter annihilation. 



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ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME. 



291 



Class I. 

Mahnesbiiry, anno 6*J5. Figure, 
among others of the Apostles, in basso 
relievo, of St. Peter, in the south porch 
of the Abbey-Church of xVIalmsbury, 
Wiltshire. Sketched 1801. Saxon 
work. The double keys in the right 
hand (head of the church), book with 
jewels of the New Testament (suppose) 
in the left; the robes are becoming, 
and well disposed; jewels on the border 
of the neck ; feet bare. 

Malmesbury. Figure of a Religious 
in basso relievo on door-way at the 
entrance into the church ; the dress is 
the simple Monk's habit, Hood, &c. 

Winchester, 963. Figure of a Bishop, 
in basso-relievo on the font a (Saxon 
work) in the Cathedral. Sketched 1 790. 
The Sculpture is not by the best hand : 
but the Costumic information imparted 
supersedes that consideration ; crosier 
extremely simple (shepherd's crook) ; 
mitre simple also and low ; outer robe 
enriched with beads, and diagonal em- 
broidery; under diagonals maniple 
beaded. 

Norwich. 1100. Statue of a Bishop 
in a niche on West front of the Cathe- 
dral. (Saxon.) Sketched 1786.b Cro- 
sier, meer crook ; no mitre ; robes not 
enriched ; right hand giving the bene- 
diction. 

In a Saxon MS. circa 1066, in pos- 
session of of F. Douce, Esq. Sketched 
1787. Figure of a Bishop; pastoral 
staff, cross on top has four beads ; 
mitre very high, a few beads and jewels; 
robes not enriched ; the colours express 
for the outer robe a gold ground, under 
robe red ; extreme under robe white, 
with a gold fringe ; red boots. 

In a Saxon MS. in the British Mu- 
seum. Sketched 1810. Figure of a 
female; the lines in ink tinged with 
red. Understood to represent St. Mary 
Magdalene with the vessel of precious 
ointment: attitude chaste, robes ele- 
gant, and drawing excellent. 

a The font engraved in Carter's " Antient Ar- 
chitecture." 

b Engraved with the niche in Carter's " Antient 
Architecture." 



Class II. 

Rochester, 1109. Statue in a niche 
on West front of the Cathedral. (Sax- 
on.) Sketched 1783. In this statue 
the head of crosier, mitre, and right 
hand restored; neck border of outer 
robe beaded ; on the breast a broach ; 
under robe ornamented; extreme under 
robe, reticulated ornament ; right hand 
giving the benediction. 

Peterborough. Statue lying in South 
aile of the Choir of the Cathedral. 
Sketched 1783. Cannot give precise 
date, as the sculpture is not now dis- 
posed on any sepulchral memorial or 
tomb ; appears to have been brought 
from some other situation ; supposed 
however to be of early work, that is, 
soon after the Conquest, as the sculp- 
ture is Saxon, therefore introduced in 
this place. Crosier, the simple crook ; 
no mitre; book in left hand; robes 
plain. 

Peterborough. No date. Statue lying 
with the foregoing ; of course to be ac- 
counted for in the same way. Crosier, 
simple crook ; no mitre ; outer robe, 
embroidered with a centrical cross ; 
rich foliage on the breast ; in left hand 
a book with clasps. 

Careiv Castle, Pembrokeshire. No 
date; but supposed, from the mode of 
sculpture, requisite to be brought for- 
ward at this juncture. Sketched 1803. 
A Priest in plain robes, but with an 
inverted cross embroidered centrically ; 
supposed officiating, and holding be- 
tween the hands the consecrated wafer 
in the shape of a heart. 

Liana 1 aff. 1120. Statue on West 
front of the Cathedral. Sketched 1803. 
A good performance; crosier, the simple 
crook; mitre plain, as are the robes; 
right hand giving the benediction. 

Durham. 1154. Figure of a Bishop 
painted on the side of the altar of our 
Ladie of Pitie in the Gallilee at West 
front of the Cathedral. Sketched 1795. 
Crosier, little more than the simple 
crook, is painted to represent gold ; 
mitre, gold, has a few jewels with de- 
pending drapery; outer robe red, jewels 

u 2 



292 



ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME. 



on neck border and bottom; under 
robe blue ; extreme under robe white ; 
shoes white; right hand giving the 
benediction. 

Class III. 

Lichfield. No date. Statue of a 
Bishop in the Cathedral. Judged^ from 
the mode of sculpture and Costume, 
to be of the above period. Sketched 
1782. Crosier, crook; foliaged dra- 
pery depending from the staff: robes 
plain, except a jewel on the breast, 
though full and graceful ; gloves ; right 
hand giving the benediction. 

York. No date. Figure of a Bishop 
painted on the walls of the Chapter- 
house of Cathedral. Sketched 1790. 
Since obliterated. Judged, from mode 
of dress, to be of the above period. 
Staff has a cross gilded with its depend- 
ing drapery ; mitre, few jewels, gilded ; 
outer robe green edged with gold, open 
in front and fastened with a brooch on 
the breast ; under robe white, with at- 
tached brown drapery on each side; 
white gloves and shoes ; right hand 
giving the benediction. 

Wells. No date. Statue of a Bishop 
in the Cathedral. Sketched 1 784. Judg- 
ed to be of the above period ; has no 
sepulchral memorial ; said to have been 
brought from the Abbey-church of Glas- 
tonbury. Crosier foliaged ; mitre plain; 
outer robe plain ; on left arm the ma- 
niple ; right hand on the heart, an em- 
blem of Truth. 

Hexham, Northumberland. No date. 
Statue of Prior Richard on North side 
of Choir of the Abbey church. Sketch- 
ed 1 795. Judged to be of the above 
period. Robes are those of a Priest, 
and plain ; hood drawn over the face ; 
attitude, devotional. The statue is laid 
on a low tomb. 

Ingham, Norfolk. No date. Figure 
of a Bishop seated, painted on board 
in a series of historical subjects in the 
Church. Sketched 1787- Apprehend 
still of the same period. Mitre, few 
jewels and gilded ; outer robe blue, and 
gold edges, with the like foliage em- 



broidered at neck ; under robe red 
edged with gold fringe ; depending gold 
foliage and tassels; extreme under robe 
white; white gloves and black shoes. 
Attitude, devotional. 

Connington, Huntingdonshire. No 
date. Statue of a Knight in ring ar- 
mour, over the armour a MonVs habit. 
Sketched 1798. The above date going 
on. Girdle is the knotted cord. Atti- 
tude, devotional. The singularity as 
well as the curious turn of the sculp- 
ture (and it is believed no other exam- 
ple exists), is that of a Warrior being 
thus habited; but the intent is obvious; 
a military man retires into a Monas- 
tery^ where, notwithstanding having 
taken the order, he is so biassed to his 
former life, as to be unable to put aside 
his warlike accoutrements. 

Class IV. 

Louterell Psalter; circa 1300. A 
most beautiful and Costumic illumi- 
nated folio MS. in the possession of 
Thomas Weld, Esq. of Lulworth Cas- 
tle, Dorsetshire. The variety of dresses, 
suiting all degrees of persons, are in- 
finite and interesting; from among 
which is selected this ecclesiastical ob- 
ject, a female as a Lady Abbess. Co- 
pied 1793. Crosier, foliaged crook gild- 
ed; outer robe, black; under robe^ 
wimple, and shoes white ; attitude, giv- 
ing the benediction, but with the left 
hand. Query, if such was the practice 
with religious women ? 

Louterell Psalter. Priests officiating, 
by chanting part of the service from a 
book sustained on the Eagle desk. The 
principal Priest has a blue reticulated 
outer robe lined with red ; white under 
robe. Other Priests, in white robes. 

St. Cross. 1382. Brass in the Church 
of the Hospital of St. Cross, near Win- 
chester. Sketched 1789. It represents 
the figure of John de Campden, grand 
vicar and confidential friend of the il- 
lustrious William of Wickham, and 
master of this hospital. The outer robe 
has an enriched diamond-formed bor- 
der; attitude, devotional. 



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Dorchester. No date. Supposed, from 
mode of work, to belong to this class. 
Small statues attached to the mullions 
of the South window in Choir of the 
Abbey-church of Dorchester near Ox- 
ford. Sketched 17^3. They represent 
a funeral procession, said to be that of 
St. Berinus, patron of the Church. In 
order to accommodate the several fi- 
gures to the space allotted in the plate, 
they are necessarily brought closer to- 
gether than seen in the existing sculp- 
ture. First statue, Priest with holy 
water sprinkler and ditto vessel. Se- 
cond statue, bearing the processional 
cross. Third and fourth statues with 
books ; fifth and sixth statues bear on 
their shoulders parts of the staves which 
sustained the body in a coffin, or shrine 
of St. Berinus, which, of course by 
ignorant hands, foes to antient art, has 
been destroyed. Seventh statue, Bi- 
shop or Abbot officiating, with plain 
crosier and mitre, in the attitude of 
reciting some portion of the solemn 
service. Eighth, ninth, and tenth sta- 
tues, Priests following with books, &c. 
This mode of funeral observance has 
been most scrupulously adhered to, and 
brought down to the present times 
among Catholicks, which I have often 
witnessed, and particularly so, Monday 
Jan. 28, 1793, being the Monday after 
the horrid Martyrdom of Lewis XYI. 
when his funeral obsequies were cele- 
brated in the Spanish chapel, Manches- 
ter square. The Bishop of Limoges, 
who had been tutor to the unfortunate 
Monarch, read the awful ceremonial. 

Class V. 

Sawtry All Saints, Huntingdonshire. 
Brass half-length figure of a Priest, 
(with the flagellarium,) in the church. 
No date. Conceive from the Costume, 
to be of the period under discussion. 
Sketched 1798. 

Durham. Statue placed (as lumber,) 
in a disused Chapel in basement story 
of the Bishop's Palace. Sketched 1795. 
It is crowned, which is an extraordi- 
nary circumstance, unless it is to be 
considered as an allusion to the princely 
jurisdiction which the Bishop of this 



I See maintains. The robes are full and 
| stately ; the right arm probably, when 
I perfect, shewed the hand giving the 
j benediction : what object the left hand 
I sustained it is difficult to form any 
conjecture. 

Wensley, No date. Brass figure of 
a Priest in Wensley Dale Church, 
Yorkshire. Sketched 1790. Costume 
appears still in continuation for this 
eera. Robes express the full officiating 
detail, and highly enriched, the under 
one particularly so. Attitude, devo- 
tional; hands crossed, which uphold 
the chalice. 

St. Allan's. Brass in the xAbbey- 
church. Sketched 1783. Supposed of 
Thomas de la More, Abbot 1396. Cro- 
sier much foliaged and studded with 
jewels, as is the mitre [see p. 285] ; 
the enrichment of the border to the 
robes, maniple, &c. a mixture of circles 
and diamond forms. Depending deco- 
ration over the under robe has com- 
partments of four turns ; shoes en- 
riched. Attitude, devotional ; hands 
crossed. 

Beverley. No date ; yet supposed of 
this eera. Sketched 1790. Statue of a 
Priest on a tomb in the Minster. The 
enrichments to the borders and other 
parts of the robes consist chiefly of 
shields of arms, evincing this personage 
to have been of high birth and charac- 
ter. Attitude, devotional; hands, crossed. 
Exeter. Statue of Bishop Walter 
Branscomb, 1281, (or 1397,) when exe- 
cuted^ in his sumptuous monument on 
South side of our Lady's Chapel in the 
Cathedral. Sketched 1792. As we are 
arrived in due order at the zenith of 
splendour, the reign of Edward III. 
when every power of the human mind 
seemed so pre-eminently conspicuous, 
more immediately in Laws, Arms, and 
Architecture, of which such extraordi- 
nary documents are on record, and in 
actual existence, particularly the latter 
subject; it is not to be wondered at 
that the sculpture of the statue before 
us is so excellently brought forward in 
the crosier, mitre, and robes : how ele- 
gant in disposure, how gorgeously en- 
riched ! From this specimen of eccle- 



294 



ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME. 



siastical magnificence an opinion may 
be adduced what extreme splendour per- 
vaded the whole field of Church Em- 
bellishment, in recurring to York cathe- 
dral ; Durham cathedral; Bishop Hat- 
field's throne and monument, and High 
Altar screen therein ; St. Stephen's 
chapel, Westminster; Percy monument, 
Beverley minster; Earl Crouchback 5 s 
monument, Westminster Abbey, &c. 
&c. From these, and other the like 
objects in various parts of the king- 
dom, are adduced the strongest proofs 
of the taste of painting, gilding, &c. 
overlaying the internal face of the walls, 
monuments, statues, painted ornaments, 
colouredpaving-tiles,enamelledbrasses, 
&c. Hence it may be accounted why 
the present statue is so minutely co- 
loured in the above mode. Gilded fo- 
liaged crosier, a inclosing small statue 
of a Saint ; mitre, diamonded compart- 
ments with jewelry work, &c. the exe- 
cution of which (painting) is most won- 
derfully elaborate : I speak without fear 
of contradiction but by those who have 
never studied or drawn from this, or 
other like remains. Having most scru- 
pulously copied this example to the 
fullest scale in many large drawings, I 
may thus presume on the certainty of 
what I now advance in its praise ; in- 
deed too much cannot be said to cause 
general observation and general regard : 
(I allude principally to the statue it- 
self.) Outer robe, gold embroidery 
with jewels ; under robe, and extreme 
under robe, white with gold fringe ; the 
same to the crosier drapery, and the 
white gloves ; shoes embroidered and 
jewelled. Right hand giving the bene- 
diction. 

Class YI. 

As all things submit to changeful 
habitude, our Costumic theme owns 
the truth of this do^ma. The succeed- 
ing reigns shew less superb embellish- 
ments ; an insensible diminution of the 



a See William of Wykeham's actual Crosier of 
this time in New College Chapel, Oxford. En- 
graved in Carter's "Antient Sculpture and Paint- 
in-." 



painter's labours takes place, more tin* 
assuming, and bearing a tendency to 
bring the whole mass of work to the 
united skill alone of the mason and 
sculptor, still not the less refined and 
high-wrought than formerly, painted 
glass excepted. But of this branch of 
art hereafter. 

Asliby de la Zouch, Leicestershire. 
No date. Having fixed on the begin- 
ning of the fifteenth centur) 7 as above, 
it is concluded from similar costumes 
that our thread of chronological order 
is correct. Sketched 1800. Represents 
some dignified personage, who having 
previously, it is supposed, been on a 
pilgrimage to the Holy Land, request- 
ed on his return that his effigies after 
death might be sculptured in his Pil- 
grim's habit, as here represented. This 
statue is on his monument in the 
church. The staff with cross at top, 
hat with escalop shells (St. James the 
Fisherman the Patron of Pilgrims) ; 
scrip slung over the shoulders, with 
cross band and shells : outer robe, half 
open sleeves, shewing close robe under 
them ; sandals laced ; collar of S. S. 
Attitude, devotional. 

Oxford. No date ; our present eera 
is still in progress. Sketched 1792. 
Brass Figure of John Bloxham (Mas- 
ter) in Merton College chapel. Robes 
consist of a flowing gown and mantle. 
Attitude, devotional. 

Winchester. Statue of Cardinal Beau- 
fort; in his monumental Chapel on 
South side of grand East aile of Choir 
of the Cathedral. He died 1447. Sketch- 
ed 1790. The robes worn by Cardinals 
of this period were rather plain ; that 
before us graceful; it is painted; round 
hat, and depending knotted tassels red; 
outer robe red, sleeves of under robe 
purple ; shoes black. Attitude, devo- 
tional. It is to be pointed out, that, 
notwithstanding the other statues in 
the Church, Wykeham, Waynflete, he. 
have been much disfigured, particularly 
in the noses (an almost universal bar- 
barous custom throughout the king- 
dom,) and as miserably repaired by 
some ignorant mechanic, the statue of 
the Cardinal, maugre the invidious cha- 



CIAS 




/6//y de to. UsrttcA, . 





/^/ 



A / //'//y//vAv', /447. 






.'///X/L^a^J.y/,,/. . 



C '■'•(:/<'/■ ,/'/, 



////,/ iy /Y,, // ^Zon ,/, v 




J.Carter dtl. 



ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME. 



295 



meter bestowed by Shakespeare, a re- 
mains perfect, imparting to unpreju- 
diced minds sentiments of the utmost 
awe and veneration. 

All-hallows Church, York. No date; 
yet this eera may be considered as of 
course. Sketched 1790. Painted figure 
of a Bishop in a window of the Church. 
Pastoral staff has a rich jewelled cross, 
supported by canopies gilded; mitre 
foliaged and gilt, jewels, &c. Outer 
robe white, with an embroidered cross 
inclosing smaller ditto ; ground of robe 
worked in small gold flowers and edged 
with jewels; under robe purple, edged 
with jewels and green fringes ; extreme 
under robe, white with gold edgings ; 
gloves and shoes white. Right hand 
giving the benediction. The paintings 
of this era, and those more imme- 
diately on glass, partook of a less de- 
gree of high colouring than those of 
the late reign : while those branches of 
art under the direct sway of architec- 
tural design were profuse and unbound- 
ed efforts both in masonry and sculp- 
ture ; and it is found that in the six- 
teenth century, exclusive of heraldic 
blazonings, the only colour used in 
glass painting was yellow. 

Exeter. Statue "of Bishop Oldham 
in his monumental Chapel on South 
side of South aile of Choir of the Ca- 
thedral. He died 1453. Sketched 1792. 
Work of the crosier elaborate in foliage 
an d j ewels ; the d ep en din g drapery from 
it pleasingly bound about the staff, a 
mode then in general practice, as is 
witnessed in numerous instances among 
our sepulchral remains. Mitre, richly 
studded with jewels, as is also the 
maniple ; under robe fringed, extreme | 
under robe and depending drapery j 
fringed; gloves with jewels and tas- j 
sels. Attitude, devotional. 

Guildhall, London. Erected in the 
fourteenth century. Female statue on 
the South or entrance front over the 
porch of the hall. Sketched 1783. The 
greater part of this porch has been de- 



a He appears, in Milner's " History of Winches- 
ter," to have been a most exalted and praise- 
worthy Ecclesiastick. 



stroyed, except the door- way and ave- 
nue into the hall, and in its place a 
most odious and ridiculous upright in 
the mock East Indian style set up, 
more to the City's reproach than ho- 
nour. This, with three other female 
j statues in the same tier, expressed Dis- 
i cipiine (having taken the veil), Justice, 
| Fortitude, and Mercy, all equally deli- 
cate and beautifully executed : they 
have been dispersed into various hands; 
but, being considered as the work of 
some unknown and remote English 
artist, therefore no real interest became 
their portion, so necessary to fix them 
in a final resting-place, either in some 
private or public repository, the British 
Museum for instance, like those there 
seen of Roman or Grecian Pagan ido- 
latry. The costume is that of a Nun, 
with outer and under robes, veil and 
wimple. Attitude, devotional. 

Class VII. 

Barnacle. Northamptonshire. No date; 
however, the period is proceeding on 
with. Sketched 1780. The figure of 
a Bishop carved in oak pannel in low 
relief, in some pew fences in the church. 
Mitre has jewels; its dependant dra- 
peries plain : outer robe shews a bor- 
der of jeAvels, and fastened on the breast 
in front by a brooch or fibula. Here 
is found a great change in the make of 
the outer robe, not less than the fore 
part of it being left open, and merely 
brought together and secured on the 
breast as above stated. Antecedently, 
the outer robe appears to have been 
one covering, and put on by casting it 
over the heads of the Clergy ; the arms 
raised the sides of the robe, which, 
with their occasional actions, brought 
the whole covering into fine disposed 
drapery, as witnessed in our progress 
hitherto. Under robe fringed, cross 
band over front of it ; extreme under 
robe plain. Attitude, admonitory. 

London. No date : our progress con- 
tinued. Sketched 17S2. Figure of a 
Bishop painted in East window of Tri- 
nity Hall chapel, Aldersgate street, 
(Chapel destroyed) of " St. Basil the 



296 



ECCLESIASTICAL COSTUME. 



Great v (in an inscription under the 
feet). After the removal of the paint- 
ing, it came into the possession of the 
late Mr. Kirgate, Printer, Strawberry 
Hill. Pastoral staff, gold ; mitre, with 
jewels and gold work; outer robe, pur- 
ple lined with blue; and purple ena- 
meled broach ; mantle, green bordered 
with blue embroidered ornament : under 
robe (seen on the breast) diamonded 
form gold brocade; extreme under robe 
white; shoes blue. Attitude, giving 
the benediction. 

Hexham, Northumberland. No date : 
eera in succession. Sketched 1795. 
Painting on board, in the Abbey-church 
of St. Acca. There are five more of 
the same kind, as St. Almundus, St. 
^Eata, St. Wilfridus, St. John of Bever- 
ley, and St. Fredbert. They are the 
size of life, finely painted on board, in 
their original frames, and display the 
most strict studied Costume. Crosier 
foliaged, supported by canopies, gilded; 
mitre, jewels, and gold work; outer 
robe, white sprig ornament on light 
brown ground, and edged with gold 
fringe ; brooch, gold ; under robe of 
similar embroidery with outer ditto ; 
extreme under robe, white ; with its 
collar, sleeves, &c. ; gloves white, and 
jewels at their backs, black shoes. At- 
titude, giving the benediction. 

East Dereham, Norfolk. 1468. Fi- 
gure of a Priest in basso-relievo, on the 
font in the Church; confirming. Sketch- 
ed 1786. There are seven more basso 
relievos on the fout ; Baptism, Penance, 
Eucharist, Ordination, Marriage, Ex- 
treme Unction, Crucifixion. a 

Winchester. 14S9. Sketched 1788. 
Figure of Thomas Silksted, Prior of 
the Cathedral, painted with other sub- 
jects relating to the miracles of the 
Blessed Virgin, in her Chapel at the 
East end of the Church. The above 
date refers to the period when exe- 
cuted. b Crosier slightly foliaged on 
plain canopies gilded ; mitre plain, ex- 
cept two jewels gilt (it is placed on his 
altar desk) ; Missal, leaves and clasps 
gilded; outer robe black. It appears 
the Priors of this Convent had the pri- 

a Engraved in Carter's " Antient Sculpture and 
Painting." »» Ibid. 



vilege of this insignia of crosier and 
mitre. He is on his knees. In conti- 
nuation of the painting, there is a sta- 
tue, to which he is praying. 

Westminster. 1519. Sketched 1783. 
Figure in bronze of Abbot I slip, on the 
tomb of Henry VII. in his Chapel in 
the Church ; first stone laid by Islip. 
This Abbot and Sir Reginald Bray were 
the joint Architects who constructed 
that wonderful pile. The tomb from 
whence this subject is selected, is the 
work of Torregiano, a Florentine artist, 
and the portrait is by traditionary re- 
port believed to be that of the good 
Islip ; the circumstance expressed in 
the performance of which this effigies 
makes a part is, Edward the Confessor 
delivering the famous ring to the Con- 
vent, and, in compliment to the meri- 
torious Abbot Islip (setting aside all 
reference to Edward's time, but under- 
standing the whole a vision), makes 
him the receiver thereof. Outer robe, 
hanging sleeves open to the upper half 
of the arm, and fringed at the edges ; 
under robe plain ; mantle and maniple_, 
fringed. Attitude, devotional, and 
mixed with some degree of surprise 
and devout attention. 

The proposed thread of illustration, 
as full and as explicit as my experience 
and exploratory collections of sketches 
would admit, being expended, I have 
but to hope that my zeal and reverence 
to preserve from obloquy relicks of the 
above cast may be taken in good part ; 
and that no particular reflections will 
be cast on my ardent zeal, which may 
have been too strong to avoid, in some 
instances, in giving too warm praise, or 
too much honour, to the Manners and 
Costume (ecclesiastical) of former times. 

The gradual declination seen in the 
two last Classes of superb ecclesiasti- 
cal raiment is remarkably striking; as 
well as is the circumstance of the outer 
robe being open in front, with other 
particulars ; but not of that great im- 
port as need detail. The eye alone 
will be sufficient to render that part of 
the performance discernible. 

A pril, 181 7- J. Carter. 

c Series of the basso-relievos on the tomb, in 
Carter's " Antient Sculpture and Painting." 



HOSPITALS. 



297 



CHAPTER LXI. 



HOSPITALS. 



These were generally founded ac- 
cording to the Augustinian Order ; and 
the following Consuetudinal of S. Leo- 
nard's, York,, is an excellent summary 
of the usual Monastick method of 
living. 

As the reception of pilgrims and 
poor travellers was formerly one of the 
principal uses of the Hospitals, they 
were generally situated by a road 
side. 3 

Every lettered brother and Chaplain 
had a desk in the Cloister. All rose 
to Mattins ; and a few being left after- 
wards to celebrate the Mass of the 
Virgin Mary, they studied in the Clois- 
ter till Prime. That service over, they 
went to the Chapter, and from thence 
again to the Choir for the celebration 
of the other hours, belonging to the 
time of day. After these, they repair- 
ed to the Refectory, where the dinner 
was accompanied by reading : and left 

a Taylor's Ind. Monast. pref. xiii. 



the Fratry to return thanks in the 
Church. In the Summer they next 
went to sleep, but in the Winter to 
their books in the Cloister, where they 
staid till Vespers. These celebrated, 
they again returned to their books, till 
the hour of supper, which meal was 
attended with reading. After this sup- 
per or collation, they said Grace, sung 
Completory and a Salve Regina, &c. in 
the Church ; and after it was over, their 
private prayers in the Choir or Clois- 
ter, till bed-time, when they slept in a 
common Dormitory. They could not 
eat, drink, or enter the Refectory after 
Complin, nor speak in the Cloister, 
Refectory, or Dormitory. They were 
shaved every fifteen days. b 

Where the Paupers or others could 
not say the Hours, so many Paters and 
Aves were substituted ; and the statutes 
modified accordingly; but still the Mo- 
nastic tenor was retained. 

b Dugd. Monast. ii. 370, 371. 



298 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



CHAPTER LXIL 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



After the partial restoration of Mo- 
nachism by Mary, the Accession of 
Elizabeth totally ousted the Monks 
and Nuns; and, in 1609, one Robert 
Buckley, alias Father Sebert, a profess- 
ed Monk of Westminster, aged 90 years, 
was the only survivor. a Foreign houses 
were established, whither the candi- 
dates for Monachism were surrepti- 
tiously conveyed. b A Convent of Ca- 
puchins was set up at Somerset- House, 
according to the marriage articles of 
Queen Henrietta Maria, in 1633. Prynne 
places two Convents in London in the 
year 1640, but Fuller doubts the fact : c 
and in 1677; Sir Thomas Gascoigne es- 
tablished and endowed a Nunnery at 
Dolebank in Yorkshire.* 1 James II. 
filled England with Monks; but this 
work is not historical, and there are 
only three things within the plan. I. 
The Establishment of a Protestant 
Nunnery at Little Gedding. II. Some 
attempts at the revival of Monastick 
Female Institutions, chiefly for the 
purpose of education. III. The mo- 
dern introduction of Monasticks, owing 
to the Political Surgery of the French 
Revolutionary Charlatans, who ampu- 
tated limbs with hatchets, and drew 
teeth with blacksmitlr's pincers. 

I. — Protestant Nunnery. In 1633, 
Charles I. on his progress to Scotland 
to be crowned, went to see a Protest- 
ant Nunnery, at Gedding Parva, near 
Stilton in Huntingdonshire, instituted 
and appointed by Mrs. Farrar, a widow 
of eighty years of age, who said, that 
she had bidden adieu to all fears and 
hopes in this world, and only desired 
to love God. In this house, none were 

a Reyner, Append, i. seq. 

b Fuller's Church Hist. B. ix. p. 88. Archaeo- 
logia, xiii. 251. seq. 

c Fuller, B. vi. p. 366. Cent. xvii. p. 119. 
d State Trials, iii. 6, 7. Ed. fol. 



permitted to reside who would not de- 
vote themselves to prayers at certain 
hours, Morning, Noon, Evening, and 
Night, and eat and drink by measure. 
Within her Chapel was a rich Altar, 
Crucifix, and wax-candles, and before 
the reading of prayers, they bowed 
thrice to the Altar, as they went up 
and came down. They were at liberty 
to use any vocation within the house, 
as binding books, teaching scholars, or 
studying, and if any of the Society were 
inclined to marry, they had free liberty 
to depart. 6 

This Protestant Nunnery was no 
other than the old Beguines, or devout 
women, who appeared about the 13th 
century/ and wearing a religious habit, 
with a private profession of conti- 
nence and regular life, yet would not 
be confined to a Cloister, or adopt a 
rule. Lindanus thus describes the 
Flemish Beguines, contemporary, or 
nearly so, with these Protestant Nuns. 
They observe a middle course between 
a Monastic and secular life. They live 
under certain rules, but from their 
own funds, and without vows. If they 
think fit to marry, they leave the house 
and do so. The old Beguines did 
sometimes, however, make a vow of 
marrying God, by cutting off their 
hair. In France, by degrees, the or- 
der was converted into Tertiaries of 
Francis.s 

II. — In 1696, the learned Mary 
Astell projected a College for the edu- 
cation of young women, and an Asylum 
for the unfortunate, of which an ample 
endowment was promised.' 1 Learned 



? Acta Regia, 771. 

f Seethe two Matthews, Paris and Westminster, 
a 1243, but earlier evidences exist. 

% Du Cange, v. Begharde, &c. 

h Mr. Nichols kindly communicates the facts 
upon which the reflections annexed are founded. 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



299 



or able persons ought not to think in 
extremes. The common occurrence 
of results, which cannot he anticipated, 
may justify caution, bat not the vulgar 
habit of allowing weight to frivolous 
objections ; and thus sanctifying pre- 
judice. Because the plan assimilated 
conventual institutions, Bishop Bur- 
net, notoriously a man of defective 
judgment, and Swift, by profession a 
libeller, in sentiment not a man, suc- 
ceeded in robbing posterity of much 
probable benefit. 

Lady Masham, about 1700, medi- 
tated, as I presume, a similar educa- 
tional plan, in a tract in which she 
shows the necessity of a reform in fe- 
male education, and expatiates upon 
the ignorance of English Gentlemen. 
Squire Western, was in his day a real 
character, but a lineal descendant in 
manners and habits of the feudal land- 
holder, whom field-sports inured to 
military duties. Though this coarse- 
ness was ameliorated by Chivalry ; im- 
provements in the state of society, with 
far greater effect, have produced an 
alteration, which could not possibly re- 
sult from simple education, whether 
Monastic or not, unsupported by such 
important auxiliaries. 

A kind of Royal Society of Philoso- 
phers of both sexes had been monas- 
tically governed in Germany, at the end 
of the 17th century, by Elizabeth, 
daughter of Frederick V. King of Bo- 
hemia. A rich and fashionable groupe 
of Bas-blues were assembled upon a 
conventual plan, in a rural retreat, by 
the accomplished Harriet Eusebia Har- 
court, who died in 1745. According 
to nature, as the feminine duties are 
pointed out by her, and sensitive timi- 
dity and soft grace rendered woman's 
chief attractions, fine taste, delicate 
sentiment and tender feelings are more 
appropriate than philosophical habits, 
which produce masculine, disputatious, 
and deterring characters, certainly un- 
suited to the conjugal or maternal sta- 
tion. Monasteries of learned women 
would be injurious to Society, because 
they might be much better employed. 

Hopeless as to the revival of Monas- 



tick Institutions, some advocates, by 
way of insinuation, have used the fol- 
lowing arguments. One pleads the 
advantageous result, as he supposes, oj 
similar restraints upon indulgence Oj. 
the passions : but he does not know, 
that the riotous, corrupt, and prurient 
imagination, occasioned by these re- 
straints, destroys the effect proposed, 
through invig oration of the passions* 

Another, upon medical principles, 
palliates ascetical austerities ; by display- 
ing various intellectual and corporeal 
injuries, which ensue from too gene- 
rous food, and consequent dispeptic 
habits ; but this proves not the neces- 
sity of Monasteries, only of temper- 
ance. A third, under the persuasion, 
that an unjust libel upon numerous 
pious, charitable, and even amiable 
women is a serious truth, gravely re- 
commends Monastick Institutions, as 
remedies, eradicating the spleen and 
fidgets in Old Maids; as if dogs be- 
came better tempered from being 
chained or kenneled, or there was no 
quarrelling in Alms-houses of old wo- 
men. A rigid monastery would at 
least be a more proper punishment of 
Adultery than a pecuniary mulct. 

III. — Modern Monks in England. 
The most eminent of these is the Mo- 
nastery of La Trappe, settled by the 
bounty of Mr. Weld, at Lulworth in 
Dorsetshire. The first Abbey of La 
Trappe, [in Normandy,] was founded 
by Retrou Count de Perche, in 1 1 40 : 
but was converted in the 17th century 
into its present form, by Bouthillier de 
La Ranee, the once celebrated author 
of the Devoirs de la Vie Monastique, a 
rhapsody, with learned ascetick quo- 
tations, often cited in this work. He 
is said in early life to have been a man 
of elegant mind and pleasurable ha- 
bits, who at the age of fourteen pub- 
lished an edition of Anacreon. Two 
accounts are given of his change of 
manners : one, that it was owing to a 
providential escape when a gun burst 



a See this ingeniously and ably exhibited by 
Zimmerman, in bis work upon Solitude. 



300 



MODERN MONACHISM, 



upon his shoulder ; another, that in- 
tending to surprise a favourite female 
by an unexpected visit after long ab- 
sence, he rushed into her room, and 
found her a corpse, disfigured beyond 
conception by the small pox, and the 
surgeon about to separate the head 
from the body, because the coffin had 
been made too short. The shock was 
terrible ; but had he been a confirmed 
libertine, would have been soon for- 
gotten, except by occasional painful re- 
collections. 

Too rigid education (for he had been 
tutored under an Archiepiscopal uncle) 
produced an exaggerated estimate of 
pleasure. But being undeceived by 
experience, and elevated above mere 
grossness by literary habits, he recurred 
to early impressions. Warm feelings 
united with an active mind must ever 
have a hobby , which it pursues fanati- 
cally; and through the Monastick Fene- 
lon system of his education, a a system 
which, in its pursuit of faultless cha- 
racter, forgets that to be void of excel- 
lence is the greatest of all faults, 
Bouthillier de la Ranee, unfortunately 
for the world, considering his abilities 
and energy, directed his attention to 
the creation of feeble character and 
useless innocence. As he does not 
quote the sacred writings but to sup- 
port the Postils of the Ascetick fa- 
thers, he did not know that one object 
of the Holy Apostles in the Epistles 
was to fix all the necessary forms of 
Christian Communities. Unacquainted 
with the real tendency of Apostolical 
Philosophy, to produce, by means of 
faith, Purity, Contentment, and Pru- 
dence, a sublime mind, and a happy 
temper, he did not also know, that 
Christianity has, by this means, the 
promise of the life which now is, as well 
as of that which is to come. In his Mo- 
nastick reforms, he places the minds of 
his followers immovable in the stocks, 
and makes them corporeally mere 
dumb working animals, always in har- 



a See this argumentatively illustrated in the 
Edinburgh Review of 1813, p. 136. 



ness, and prevented, except by agri- 
cultural industry, from rendering com- 
mon services to mankind, much more 
for making those active exertions for 
the good of society, of producing which, 
under happier religious principles, no 
man would have been more capable. 
Prompted, too, in his choice of an 
object by soured feelings, he recurred 
to the Carthusian Rule, which, he 
knew, had degenerated the least of any, 
because Degeneracy, at least ostensi- 
ble, is impracticable in solitary con- 
finement ; where, in fact, the Convent 
is a mere well-regulated prison : and 
the Keeper is exonerated from the se- 
verities. Baron Borne says of the 
Monk of La Trappe, " he only of all 
Monks labours, ploughs, and digs the 
ground ; but the superiors of the spe- 
cies, who live and dine pleasantly, enjoy 
the fruits of their labours/' b 

Bernard, a stern unamiable fanatick, 
whose sole pleasure was the gratifica- 
tion of his pride, was the darling au- 
thor of Bouthillier; and the latter, 
taking the Benedictine Rule as his 
basis, superadded to it, as leading dis- 
tinctions of his reform, insulation of 
the Monks from each other, because 
being thus estranged they neither quar- 
rel nor form parties ; perpetual silence ; 
frugal fare, because persons, who live 
luxuriously, require sleep, and cannot 
rise to mattins, with content ; and ma- 
nual labour, instead of reading, be- 
cause, he says, the Oriental Monks 
subsisted whole countries by their la- 
bours ; and cultivation of the soil 
would enable his followers to assist 
pilgrims, comfort the poor, and enter- 
tain strangers. As a corrective peni- 
tentiary system, applied to characters 
injurious to society, his plan is worthy 
the serious attention of political Eco- 
nomists, but no government ought to 
permit the power of inflicting such 
misery upon innocence. Add to this 
the following remark of Lady Mary 

b Specimen Monachologise, p. 31, seq. This does 
not appear at Lulworth. 

c AH this the reader may see in his Devoirs, i. 
339, 342, ii. 340—345. iii. 47. and other places 
quoted in this work. 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



301 



Wortley Montague upon a Monastery 
of La Trappe : " I cannot well form a 
notion of that spiritual and extatick 
joy, that is mixed with sighs, groans, 
hunger and thirst, and the other com- 
plicated miseries of monastick disci- 
pline. It is a strange way of going to 
work for happiness, to excite an en- 
mity between soul and body, which 
Nature and Providence have designed 
to live together in an uninterrupted 
friendship, and which we cannot sepa- 
rate, like man and wife, when they 
happen to disagree." 

These Lulworth Monks, though of 
course mere automata, are humble, 
inoffensive, and moral. Superstition, 
compatible with all religious, and even 
infidel principles, does not necessarily 
include vice ; and these noble-minded 
Asceticks maintained 80 orphan chil- 
dren of the murdered French Noblesse, 
and refused an asylum from the Em- 
peror of Russia, because they would 
not rob a legitimate proprietor of his 
estate. 

Messrs. Gough and Nichols made a 
visit to the Refugees of Lulworth, and, 
besides their own remarks, have print- 
ed a the accounts of a hostile and a 
friendly visitor. The two latter are 
evidently ignorant of the Romish Ca- 
nonical hours, and invariable Monas- 
tick habits. In Manners and Customs 
they are both inaccurate. Without 
rejecting their description, it is there- 
fore better to premise the rule, which 
their imperfect lights only show in 
almost all points observed. 

Rule. The hour of rising is marked 
by the Dormitory bell, which rings at 
2 A. M. on working days, at 1 on Sun- 
days and festivals, and at midnight [on 
account of Vigils, F.] for grand festivals. 
They go immediately to the Church 
to say Matins and Lauds till four. 
They employ themselves till five in 
prayers at Church, or in reading Di- 
vinity in the Cloister. They return 
to Church to say Prime, after which is 



a In Hutchins's Dorsetshire, new edition (vol. 
iv. p. 349, seq.) Additions to vol. i. whence all the 
accounts here are taken. 



held, for half an hour, a chapter of 
faults; they then go to work for an 
hour and a half ; and leave off at the 
bell which calls to Church to Tierce, 
High Mass, and Sext ; after which they 
repair to the Refectory. In winter 
Nones are said at noon, and in summer 
at one o^clock. After Nones they re- 
turn to labour for an hour and a half, 
and leave off when the bell calls to 
Church to pray for the King, which 
lasts about a quarter of an hour. At 
four o'clock they say Vespers ; at five 
go to the Refectory, till half after 
six ; a quarter of an hour is spent in 
praying in the Church, or in reading 
together in the Cloister. At seven they 
say Complin, and at eight they go to 
bed. 

These and some other of the subse- 
quent regulations are simply Benedic- 
tine, except the manual labour, and the 
rigorous injunction of silence, which is 
not only perpetual, but prohibits com- 
munication by writing or signs, or even 
two standing near together. 

Every Saturday at La Trappe was a 
Maundy, or feet-washing in the Clois- 
ter; and Communion every Sunday 
and principal festivals by all the Reli- 
gious not Priests. The Deacon having 
received the kiss of peace from the ce- 
lebrant, while they were singing the 
Agnus Dei, went down to give it to the 
Sub-deacon, who carried it to the en- 
trance of the Sanctuary to the oldest 
Monk, who was to communicate, and 
he to the next following, and so the 
rest. This kiss of peace was received 
at the place where the Sub- deacon 
chaunted the epistle. They afterwards 
kneeled down six and six in the Sanc- 
tuary, and communicated on the epis- 
tle side of the Altar ; then returned to 
their places. Conferences [religious 
converzationes] were usually held in a 
room, garden, or other place, at the 
ringing of the bell by the Superior 
every Sunday, and on festivals, when 
they fell on the middle of the week. 

The sick or infirm religious had 
meat only by leave of the Superior, and 
after five or seven attacks of fever. 
The infirm never drank wine, unless a 



302 



MODERN MONACHISM, 



remedy against fainting. No sugar or 
sweetmeats were used. a 

When Motraye visited La Trappe, 
which was while our James II. made a 
temporary visit there for edification in 
his own way of Ite. missa est, [Go, it is 
the hour of mass.] he was received by 
the porter in a coat like a Quaker, of 
the coarsest grey stuff, who, after kneel- 
ing before him in silence , b beckoned to 
him to follow him, and brought him to 
another brother in the same dress, 
who, after kneeling, led him into a hall, 
whither the Father Porter, who was al- 
lowed to speak, introduced him to 
Ranee, who had resigned through age. 

In 1800 Mr. Gough, Mr. Nichols,, 
and Mr. Basire, visited Lulworth. 
They say, " When the French Revolu- 
tion drove these religious from their 
situation in Normandy, Mr. Weld, of 
Lulworth Castle, gave them refuge on 
the sea-coast, near Lulworth CoA^e, a 
few fields from his park-gate, and al- 
lotted them 400 acres, which they cul- 
tivate, and send the produce that ex- 
ceeds their own consumption to Poole. 
Their house consists of an outer court, 
with stables or other buildings, through 
which you pass to the principal door, 
where the Porter, who is permitted to 
speak, receives and conducts you, from 
a small hall or lobby, into a parlour, in 
the window of which lay Thomas a 
Kempis, and a French Quarto of the 
Rules, &c. of the Orders." Another 
Traveller says, u Ringing at the gate 
of the Monastery, we were received by 
the Porter. It is impossible to give 
an accurate idea of the hideousness of 
this mair's dress, which was composed 
of a tunick made of coarse, thick, and 
heavy woollen cloth. Over his shoul- 
ders he wore a cope made of the same 
material ; this was partly thrown back, 
so that his face was visible. (See the 
Plate,p.306,fig.3.) The Porter, though 
one of the brotherhood, was sufficiently 
communicative. He complained, in- 
deed, that the Superior, by continuing 

a Of this Carthusian Regulation, see Chapter of 
Rules, p. 65. 

b A mere compliment ; not the Rule. 



cled his waist 
pended his 



him for two years in an office which 
ought to be occupied by each brother 
in his turn, had grievously interrupted 
those devout meditations, in which it 
was his ardent wish to be uninter- 
ruptedly employed. Intercourse with 
strangers, he said, led his thoughts back 
to that ivorld, ivhich he wished to for- 
get :" [thus proving the justice of the 
remark, that Monachism disqualifies 
mankind for any duties but its own.] 

The friendly Visitor says, " The 
entrance to the Monastery is on the 
west side, near the Porter's Lodge, un- 
der a long narrow building, which 
serves for offices of the meaner kind. 
The Porter who received us, was dress- 
ed in the habit of a convent-brother, 
wearing a long brown robe of coarse 
cloth, and a cowl of the same colour 
over his head, a leathern girdle encir- 
, from which were sus- 
keys : he spoke to us in a 
whisper, and desired us to be silent." 
(See the Plate, p. 306, fig. 3.) 

On the right and left of the gate at 
La Trappe was the farm of the Abbey, 
where the secular brethren, thrice a 
week, under a pent-house, distributed 
bread to numerous poor. There they 
lodged in bed-chambers a great num- 
ber of guests. After passing the gate 
at the further end of the court, was on 
the left the Chapel, where the women 
heard mass, not being admitted into the 
Church. On each side was a suit of 
buildings for the use of the Monastery, 
such as presses, forges, stables, maga- 
zines, &c. At Lulworth the confor- 
mity of structure is at least upon the 
same plan, and women equally ex- 
cluded ; and all these offices are in an 
outer court, as at La Trappe. One of 
the Travellers says, u As we passed 
through the first court at Lulworth, we 
fancied ourselves in former days, when 
the Monastick orders flourished ; and 
strange and unusual seemed the ap- 
pearance of the Monks in the full habit 
of their order, gliding along intent on me- 
ditation, or employed in manual labour, 
but not a word spoken." The other 



Traveller 



says 



that their faces were 



covered, so that only their eyes and 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



303 



noses were visible. This is precisely 
according to the Rule and Custom of 
the Parent House, where they never 
spoke, read, wrote, or looked any per- 
son in the face, but always on the 
ground. There were only two excep- 
tions, of which hereafter. 

At Lul worth are a Chapel or Church, 
Chapter, Cloisters, Refectory, Dormito- 
ry, Visitors'' Parlours, and Bed-room ; 
of which, in order. 

Church. At La Trappe the Church 
was descended into by six steps, and 
consisted of a nave and two choirs for 
the converts and the brethren. At the 
service the religious appeared like ma- 
chines singing without book; their 
eyes shut or fixed on the earth, their 
hands crossed before them, and kiss- 
ing the ground at going in and coming 
out. Their chaunt was unaccompanied 
by the organ or any musical instru- 
ment whatever, and no decoration was 
permitted in the Church. Messrs. 
Gough and Nichols describe the Cha- 
pel at Lulworth, as neatly fitted up 
with deal stalls on each side; in the 
centre, as at La Trappe, a turret with 
a dome. The anti-chapel, over which 
is a gallery, has on each side the door 
two whole-lengths of the Virgin Mo- 
ther, with I. H. S. on a heart on the 
South, superscribed on the frame, 
" Do all that he will tell you." On 
the North, " Mother, behold your 
Son." Over the door, our Lady of 
Pity. At a table, lifted up under the 
North Picture, the Abbot celebrated 
High Mass, attended only by an Aco- 
lyte. He finished the service at the 
High Altar ; which has, under a taber- 
nacle, the Virgin and Child, seemingly 
in terra cotta or painted wood; the 
arms with wax lights, issued from the 
heart, and I. H. S. ; and there was a 
small plain chandelier. In the way to 
the Vestry was a good Picture of St. 
John's Baptism, over a table ; and in 
the Vestry, in two sets of drawers, the 
maniples and vestments for solemn 
festivals; a large cross of wood with 
an inscription on the shaft and trans- 
verse; and a silver chalice, embossed 
with Scripture histories in compart- 



ments, the oldest piece of plate which 
they possess. One of the Travellers 
says, the names of the Monks were 
inscribed on the stalls, and in each 
stall was a large old Missal on vellum, 
guarded at the corners and sides, and 
large clasps ; a lamp burning perpetu- 
ally during the presence of the Eucha- 
rist. The rood-loft contained an organ 
[a deviation from the custom of the 
parent house]. 

Opposite to the Chapel were private 
oratories, embellished with crucifixes 
and religious paintings. 

Chapter. At La Trappe the Chaptei 
opened into the Cloister, where the 
Abbot, on a raised seat, addressed his 
reproof to the brethren, and near it 
was a way into the garden, in which 
the religious, on a signal given by 
their Superior, returned to their work. 
In the old Rule was a Morning Chap- 
ter, as in almost all Orders. Of Lul- 
worth, one Traveller says, " From ano- 
ther part of the Cloisters we entered 
the Chapter-house, whither the Monks 
retire after their meal is over, not to 
beguile away their time in trifling con- 
versation, 3 but in reading religious 
books, saying vespers and other evening 
prayers, and in public self-accusation : 
the walls of this room are covered with 
religious prints, and at the entrance 
hung up a board with pegs, on which 
were suspended bits of wood, in- 
scribed with the names of all the Monks 
that had been and are now in the Con- 
vent ; P. Dionysius, P. Hyacinthus, P. 
Julianus, P. Barnardus, P. Martinus, 
P. Matthagus, P. Pius, and others, to 
the number of eighty-six : on another 
board were inscribed a list of the dif- 
ferent offices of the Church for the 
day, and the names of such of the fa- 
thers as officiated, set opposite ; below 
it, an exhortation in Latin and French, 
pointing out the advantages of devo- 
tion, and the importance of self-denial." 
At La Trappe the religious might speak 
to confess their evil thoughts to the 
Abbot, and to accuse or proclaim 



a Alluding to the conversations after Nones, and 
the Biberes, in other Orders. 



304 



MODERN MONACHISM, 



themselves in full chapter, on which 
they prostrated themselves to the 
ground, and remained till the Abbot 
stamped with his foot. 

Cloisters. At La Trappe the Clois- 
ter was within the house, wherein they 
passed all their leisure time, and at- 
tended lectures and conferences. At 
Lulworth, one modern Visitor says, 
" The Cloisters are used for air and 
exercise in bad weather, having a large 
cistern at one end for the Monks to 
wash." At La Trappe on the right 
hand of the Garden was the cemetery 
of the religious, and in the middle of 
it the tomb of De Ranee their founder, 
under a building 9 feet by 6. The 
graves of the common religious were 
distinguished only by a wooden cross, 
with the name, diocese, and town of 
the deceased, inscribed on a plate of 
lead. When in a dying state, they 
were carried into the Choir, and laid 
on straw, over which ashes had been 
previously strewed in form of a cross, a 
and were buried in their habit, with- 
out any pomp. At Lulworth, Messrs. 
Gough and Nichols noted in the ce- 
metery a grave of a boy, at the head 
and feet of which were a wooden cross ; 
and an open grave. One Traveller 
says, passing from the Chapter through 
a Cloister, we visited the burying 
ground, which occupies a small inner 
court. " Two graves, already tenanted 
are marked by two wooden crosses ; 
and one grave is always kept open [as 
a memento mori was the intention of 
De Ranee. F.] ready to receive the 
next deceased. Our conductor assured 
us, that each individual of the frater- 
nity prayed sincerely that he might him- 
self soon become the next occupant/ 5 
The other Traveller says, "This Monas- 
tery is of a quadrangular shape, with 
a schilling in the inside, forming the 
Cloisters, and the area a depository for 
the dead. We observed seven graves, to 
some of which were added a wooden 
cross, either at the head or feet.' 5 

a The ashes on Ash -Wednesday and these times, 
were to commemorate "that man is but Ashes and 
Earth, and thereto shall return. " Fuller's Ch. 
Hist. Cent. xvi. p. 222. 



Refectory. At La Trappe, on one 
side of the Cloister, was the Refectory 
of the Monks, and by the side of it 
that of the convert brothers, with a 
communication between them, that 
both might hear the reading in the 
great Refectory. It ended at the kit- 
chen, which, by a little court, commu- 
nicated with the court of the converts, 
where in different shops each followed 
his respective trade. Their fare was 
only pulse, herbs, and boiled roots, 
without butter or oil, and very brown 
bread, and no fish, or flesh, or eggs, 
only milk. Messrs. Gough and Ni- 
chols say, that at Lulworth, "the Clois- 
ter led on the South to the Refectory, 
opposite to which are the Kitchen and 
Buttery with two doors. At the up- 
per end of the Refectory, which runs 
from North to South, is the Abbot's 
table under a crucifix ; and on each 
side, on the East, the table of the re- 
ligious, and on the West, that of the 
Seculars and Acolytes, all spread with 
coarse cloth, wooden platters and 
spoons, stone jugs and horns, filled 
with water. One of the Seculars from 
the Kitchen, through the door, carried 
up two bowls full of boiled rice, cab- 
bage, potatoes, and milk to the Abbot's 
table, making three bows in the Refec- 
tory, and afterwards took from the 
hatch the bowls of the others singty. 
East of the Refectory is the scullery 
and workshop, where they turn, make 
and mend their habits, bind their books, 
and write their musick." One Travel- 
ler describes the Refectory as " a very 
plain room with white-washed walls, 
furnished with a rude table, and two 
or three wooden-bottomed chairs.' 5 
In the next account there must be 
some mistake, for it mentions soup 
and bread, quite black, as the only fare 
allowed to the Monks, of which they 
partook twice a day in summer, and 
once only in winter ; whereas the other 
Traveller says, they have only one 
meal. The former says, that a wood- 
en bowl and spoon and a coarse earth- 
enware cup for each person, composed 
the whole of their table utensils. The 
latter describes the Refectory "as a 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



305 



very long room, containing a wooden 
bench, extending on each side ; upon 
the tables were placed a wooden tren- 
cher, bowl and spoon, with a napkin 
for each Monk, and the name of each 
inscribed over his seat ; and at the up- 
per end sat the Prior, distinguished 
from the rest of the convent, only by 
his pastoral staff. During the repast, 
the Lecturer delivered a discourse, as 
usual in all orders • and still retained 
in many Colleges of the two Univer- 
sities. 

Dormitory, At La Trappe the up- 
per story was occupied by distinct 
Dormitories for each order, and the 
Monks slept on straw mattrasses, with- 
out sheets : and at eight went to bed. 
At Lulworth, Messrs. Go ugh and Ni- 
chols found the Dormitory a long gal- 
lery lighted by one window to the 
South, with 12 bedsteads, straw mat- 
trasses, and pillows on each side ; and 
on the teasters the respective names 
of the Monks. The cynical Traveller 
agrees with them in the construction 
of the Apartment, but makes the beds 
or rather cells, 24 or 25, separated 
from each other by wooden partitions. 
In these cells, the whole fraternity re- 
pose on bare boards, covered with only 
a blanket and rug. The friendly 
Visitor says, that the Dormitory ee ex- 
tends the whole length of the building, 
and on each side are ranged the cells 
of the Monks, in which they recline 
themselves on wood, with one blanket, 
and a coarse rug. There is a window 
at each end, to ventilate and air the 
room, which is dark and gloomy : and 
a clock is stationed near the entrance 
to warn the Monks of the hour of Mat- 
tins." 

Visitors' Parlour and Bed-room. 
These at La Trappe had the usual 
large accommodations of the great Ab- 
beys : a Hall, Chambers, &c. One 
Traveller describes it at Lulworth, as 
a kind of common sitting-room, 
where were about two dozen of super- 
stitious books, mostly in French, some 
few in Latin, the whole of their library. 
Messrs. Gough and Nichols say, that 



over the parlour are two neat small 
plaster chambers, with check bed-fur- 
niture, and white quilts, for strangers. 

The Rule of the Founder prescribed 
manual labour, as being the first pu- 
nishment annexed to sin, and an exer- 
cise extremely well suited to the state of 
the poor and of the penitent, and as a 
very powerful means to sanctify them in 
their profession. This work they were 
to perform, neither indolently nor vio- 
lently; that is, in the Festina Lente 
manner of Baron Born's description. 
At La Trappe, when at work, they 
threw off the great hood, and retained 
only a shirt, of white thin serge, with 
their long gowns of the same stuff, but 
thicker, which they tucked up and 
confined in the ends of the scapulary, 
under their leathern girdle. The first 
Traveller to Lulworth says, " The 
Monks whom we met did not so 
much as look at us when we approach- 
ed them ; they turned aside their heads, 
and crossed themselves in silence." 
The second Visitor says, " The Monks 
observe perpetual silence, scarcely even 
look at each other, and never speak 
but to their Prior, and only on urgent 
occasions : they never wander from 
their Convent without permission of 
their Superior, but go each morning 
cheerfully to such work as they are 
directed to perform. As we passed 
thesepoor humble unoffending Monks at 
their work they received us with courtesy 
and humility, but never spoke." The 
ground attached to the Monastery con- 
tains about 400 acres, which is culti- 
vated by the Monks, with the assist- 
ance of a carter and his boy. 

Costumes. At La Trappe their habit 
was a long white woollen gown, tied 
with a leathern girdle, a black scapu- 
lary, and a wide hood ; but novices 
wore a kind of capote of coarse brown 
wool, without sleeves. The first Tra- 
veller describes them at Lulworth, as 
habited like the Porter (seep. 302), with 
stockings of coarse cloth, and wooden 
shoes, about three inches thick in the 
sole. The second Traveller mentions 
a vestment-room, where the vestments 



306 



MODERN MONACHISM, 



of the Choir-brothers were hung up, 
with the name of each inscribed. 

Explanation of the Print. The sub- 
jects of this Plate are selected from 
several very spirited sketches by Mr. 
Basire, taken when on a visit to Lul- 
worth with Messrs. Gough and Ni- 
chols, in the year 1800. 

Fig. 1, is a portrait of the Abbot, in 
his costume. 

Fig. 2, is a portrait of one of the 
Monks, in meditation and prayer. 

Fig. 3, is a striking portrait of the 
talkative little Porter. 

Fig. 4, is another of the Monks. 

Fig. 5, the Monks at Church, exhi- 
biting the attitude of the Venia. 

Fig. 6, is a Monk in prayer at 
the High Altar. 

In the back ground of figures 2, and 
4, are very slight distant views of the 
Monastery at Lulworth. 

Nuns of Spettisbury. A Mrs. Mary 
Wiseman, a professed Nun of the Fle- 
mish Convent of St. Ursula in Lou- 
vain, established in the last place, in 
the year 1609, a house of Canonesses 
of the Augustinian order. They were 
governed by a Prioress, and educated 
young ladies. This house enjoyed con- 
siderable funds, and subsisted till the 
French Invasion in 1794, when the 
members of it fled out of the Low 
Countries. 3 Thus the Abbe Mann : 
According to other authorities^ the 
house was founded by some English 
members of a Flemish community. 
When they sought an asylum in their 
native country, in 1799, they were 
received by an hospitable friend, till 
a residence was hired for them at 
Amesbury in Wiltshire, where they 
resided till the year 1 800. Since then, 
Spettisbury house, in Dorsetshire, has 
been their mansion. The Society is 
at present composed of 33 members. 
The principal apartment of the house 
is occupied by young ladies, whom 
they educate. They are about 70 in 
family. There is also a separate build- 
ing, in which their Chaplain and some 



» Archseologia, xiii. p. 264. 

b Hutcfcins's Dorsetshire, new Edit. iii. p. 135. 



respectable boarders reside. These 
ladies express much gratitude to the 
Nation at large ; and particular obliga- 
tion to a lady who boarded with them, 
and built them a private Chapel, over 
the entrance of which her arms are 
placed. 

Benedictine Nuns. In the year 1651, 
this Monastery was founded by the 
interest of Clementina Cara, daughter 
of the celebrated Viscount Falkland, 
killed in the wars of Charles I. After 
five several habitations in Paris, they 
at last, in 1664, fixed themselves in the 
Rue clu champ d^Aloutte, Fauxbourg 
St, Marcel, where they remained till 
their expulsion by the Revolution in 
1793. C After imprisonment with other 
Nuns in the Castle of Vincennes for 
four months, and removal from thence 
to another Convent of Nuns, they at 
length, in March 1795, were liberated; 
and with much delay and difficulty ob- 
taining, by great interest, the necessary 
passports, and selling what little was 
left to pay their passage, they arrived 
at Dover, July 3, 1795; at London 
two days after. d In the same year 
they retired to Marnhull, co. Dorset. 
The Society consisted of eighteen 
ladies, all English, (one a sister of the 
late eccentric Philip Thicknesse,) under 
Mrs. Johnson, as Abbess. The sister 
and heir of the late Cuthbert Tonstal, 
Esq. was a frequent visitor and bene- 
factress. She lived and slept in the 
house, and had a separate table ; but 
her maid servant, being a Protestant^ 
did not sleep there. They have two 
Priests for Chaplain and Confessors, 
one of whom, by the importation of a 
valuable library in several large chests, 
subjected them to an absurd suspicion, 
that these chests concealed arms, and 
actually persons. This foolish affair 
was soon set at rest by the Magis- 
trates and Gentry of the neighbour- 
hood. The burial of one of the sisters 



' c Abbe" Mann's Account of English Convents, 
&c. on the Continent, in Arcliaeologia, v. xiii. p. 
269. , , 

d Account of British Subjects sufferers by the 
late Revolution. Part ii. p. 9—10*. 









Andrnct sadp. 



QL/vitrndx #fzj!a/ ^/iKJi/ze, a/\2tt/t/>-0r//L, zz)&/<w/r>/r/r 



MODERN MONACHISM. 



307 



in the garden, without a coroner, 
created another alarm, which was in 
like manner removed. During the 
search thus occasioned, were found 
four alabaster bas-reliefs of the Pas- 
sion and Crucifixion. 

In 1799, there were seventeen, in 
the Benedictine Costume of black 



gowns and veils. They have since re- 
moved to a house near Bridgewater in 
Somersetshire.* 1 

It has been reported, that there are 
other Societies now in the kingdom. 

a Hutchins's Dorsetshire, new Edition, iv. 164. 



APPENDIX, 



The particulars attending the Dis- 
solution of Monasteries are wellknown; 
but, as I have seen some unpublished 
matter on this subject, I shall here 
give it. 

The famous prophecy of Robert 
Langland, in the Vision of Piers Plow- 
man, of the destruction of Monasteries, 
is not unique. In MS. Cott. Titus, D. 
xii. Sect. 8. (Smith's Catalogue,) 
there are or were " Versus prophetici 
rhythmici de destructione monasterio- 
rum;" and it is by every thing probable 
that Langland, and this writer, merely 
expressed a general opinion. It was 
said of the Lollards : " They also per- 
suade the great persons of the land, 
that the Church-possessions are to be 
taken away, and given to knights." b 

As Henry VIII. acted on this idea, 
it is fit to note, that if an estate is 
bought subject to tithes, the purchase 
money is proportionably less ; and if 
tithes be taken away, the landlord will 
have the amount in increased rent, 
with whom the tenant can never make 
so good a bargain as with the clergy- 
man. 

Now it happens most unluckily, that 
the gifts to the Religious were of con- 
siderable national benefit ; and that 
they were the great loanmongers of 
their days ; (Toulmin's Taunton, p. 8.) 
and that large possessions in the hands 
of those very knights only served to 

b Hii quoque suadent terrse magnatibus aufe- 
rendas esse possessiones ecclesise, et militibus dis- 
tribuendas. MS. Cott. Claud. E. iv. f. 330, a, 



promote bloodshed and misery; that 
what learning and what religion there 
was resided among the religious ; that 
the want of the one would reduce 
this Country into the political imbeci- 
lity of Turkey, and that the necessity 
of the other is conspicuous enough. 

In MS. Harl. 604. f. 63. a. is the 
Abbot of Athelney's solicitation for 
mercy, &c. respecting the payment of 
their debts, " that he may be out of 
trobell and sute of the law/ 5 

The form of the certificate returned 
in at the Dissolution was as follows : 
names of the houses ; clere value of 
lands ; number and pensions of the 
religious ; clere money remaining ; 
stock and domestic articles; rewards 
with the portions paid unto the 
Priors; remainder of the price of 
goods and chastels sold ; lead and bells; 
wood and underwood; plate and Jewells. 
Id. 92. 

The King and Queen (Philip and 
Mary) discharged the purchasers of 
lands of all expence and incumbrance, 
except leases. The purchaser was to 
discharge the Kinge and Queen* s Ma- 
jesties of all the fees and repryses go- 
ynge out of the premises. MS. Harl. 
607. p. 74. a. An inquiry was con- 
stantly made in parting with the Ab- 
bey-land, whether they lay near the 
Royal manors, castles, or houses. Id. 
46*. a. It may please your honnors 
further to understande that because all 
the possessions belonge to the said late 
Monasterye of Saint Agathe's, were 
immediately upon the dissolution there- 

x 2 



308 



APPENDIX — DISSOLUTION OF MONASTERIES. 



of letten to the Lord Scrope without 
havinge respecte to value. Id. 25. a. It 
was done to create an interest which 
might destroy all hopes of restitution. 

The Visitors took care of the Church- 
duty. "It is needful/' one of them 
says, " to have a Vicar indowde in the 
saide collegiate churche, beside th' 
other pastors, at the leaste to serve 
the cures ther; that is to say, one 
to be assistant to the Vicar in the saide 
collegiate churche, and uther to serve 
the cure in the Castell Churche, and 
the third to serve the cure in Horton 
Churche." MS. Harl. 605. f. 56. 

The Convent would disclose nothing; 
and, says the Visitor, " I fermely bi- 
leve and suppose, that they had con- 
federed and compacted before our 
coming, that they should disclose no- 
thing : and yet it is confessed and 
proved, that there was here suche fre- 
quencie of women coming and reassort- 
ing to this Monastery, as to no place 
more." MS. Cott. Cleop. E. iv. f. 
120. b. 

"The Abbey (of Newark) here is 



confederyde we suppos, and nothing 
will confesse ; the Abbot is an honest 
man, and doth vara well ; but he hath 
here the most obstinate and factiouse 
Canons that ever I knewe. This mor- 
nynge I will objecte against divers of 
them ; . . . . and adulterie, et sic spe- 
cialiter descender e, whiche I have lerned 
of othir, but not of any of them, which 
I shall finde I cannot tell." Id. 13 1 . b. 
The different valuations in Dugdale 
and Speed, Dr. Smith (Catal. of Cott. 
MSS. xxxix.) professes to explain, by 
saying the one valuation gives the nett 
sum after the deductions made, the other 
not; now, in Sir H. Ellis's Shoreditch, p. 
292, are no less than seven valuations 
of one place ; in p. 321, Jive \ and it is 
in vain to enquire the cause of this, 
since various reasons, all of equal pro- 
bability, might conspire jointly or 
severally to produce it. A defect in 
value, or enumeration, is, however, the 
most likely in my opinion. No doubt 
both these events ensued as best suited 
the purpose. 



*ifi The following verses on the 
Dissolution have more than sufficient 
merit for publication. They are en- 
titled " A Tale of Robin Hoode, dia- 
logue-wise, between Watt and Jeffry." 
The moral is the overthrow of the 
Abbeys : 

Adem Bell a was ware and wise f 

When hee first began to rise, 

As the bee in summers prime 

Sucks the marigolde and thyme, 

Sucks the rose and daffodill, 

Leaving, taking what she will, 

And from flow'r to flow'r doth glide, 

Sweetly by the river side ; 

Where chrystal streames delightfull runninge, 

Are ever sweet'ned with his cumminge. 



a Monachism. 



Such was Adam in his prime, 
In the flower of his tyme, 
Soe he tastes every sweete 
Till with fatt he fell asleepe ; 
As he slumb'red in the dale, 
Spread upon the gentle vale, 
A famisht lion came that way, 
[Hungry pantinge] for his pray, 
In his grasping pawes he hente b him, 
And in pieces all to rent him ; 
Yet his cabin doth remaine 
Beaten with the windes and raine, 
Spoyled of all the passers by 
Whose huge frame doth terrify ; 
All that wondrous monument, 
All the world's astonishment ; 
When the wolves and foxes d saw 
Adam in the Lion's paw, 
Ours is Robin's strength they cried, 
And sett him round on every side. 

MS. Harl. 367. f. 150. 



Seized. 



c Puritans. 



d Politicians. 



CEREMONIAL OF THE NUNS OF ST. CYR. 



309 



The Rev. Francis Vyvyan Jago 
Arundel having very obligingly 
communicated a curious MS. enti- 
tled, " The Benedictine Ceremonial of 
the Nuns of St. Cyr" in the Park of 
Versailles, compiled from ancient 
documents, abstracts are here given 
of such passages as are not analogous 
to preceding matters. 



Chap. I. At the sound of the bell, 
the Noviciates and professed Juniors 
hastened to the Church, followed by 
their mistress and her assistant; the 
others meditating the Rule (C. 43, 48.); 
to prefer nothing to divine worship. 
At the Church-door they said the Ver- 
sicle, " I will enter into thy house," 
and then dipping their fingers in holy 
water, crossed themselves, saying, 
" Asperges," &c. This they did at all 
times of entering or leaving the Church, 
except when in procession. They next, 
in the anti-choir, put on their full 
dress, and tied their wimples on cer- 
tain days, but on others untucked their 
robes, and dropped the sleeves over 
their hands. At two steps from the 
entrance they made a low bow to the 
Host, one not so low to the Superior, 
another similar to the Prioress, and 
upon arrival at their stalls (chaires) 
again lowly inclined to the Host. These 
ceremonies were used at going out and 
passing by. 

The Juniors, down to the tenth year 
of their profession, said nothing by 
heart, except the most common things, 
and the office of Complin. Those ex- 
onerated legitimately from singing or 
psalmody arranged themselves last, 
that they might not interrupt those 
who sang. The Nuns placed them- 
selves according to the seniority of 
their profession on each side of the 
Choir, particular places of distinction 
being allotted to the Abbess, her Coad- 
jutrix, the Prioress, and Sub-prioress. 



All descended by the nearest steps, the 
Juniors first. When the Abbess said 
her part of the service, the Nuns stood, 
as they always did in every place, until 
she was seated. When she entered or 
left the Choir, they rose and bowed. 
No one, except officers on duty, left 
the Choir during service, without stat- 
ing the occasion to the presiding Nun. 
Those released from the daily service, 
placed themselves below the stalls at 
Tierce, Vespers, and the Benediction of 
Complin, which they were obliged to 
attend, except by dispensation or ne- 
cessary engagements elsewhere. The 
candles were lighted and snuffed by 
some of the youngest. Any sister who 
had business with another, was to call 
her out into the anti-choir, that the 
service might not be impeded. — There 
were other minor regulations, pp. 
1—9. 

Chap. II. The attitude in the Choir 
was to be — the body erect, the head a 
little inclined, downcast eyes (les yeux 
demi in terre), the hands under the 
scapulary or in the sleeves of the full 
dress, unless when holding the book. 
Spitting, blowing the nose, and irreve- 
rent gestures to be avoided, pp. 10. 14. 

Chap. III. " Our holy Patriarch 
seems to us to distinguish (signer) two 
kinds of psalmody, or chant ; the first, 
which is varied by antiquity or note ; 
the second, which has no variation, but 
is of the same tenor." p. 14. Certain 
services were to be celebrated accord- 
ingly. 

Chap. IV. regulates the psalmody. 
Small mistakes noticed by kissing the 
ground in their places : great errors by 
doing so before the presiding Nun. pp. 
18—20. 

Chap. V. Two kinds of bows. The 
greater, bending the body till the hands 
touched the knees ; the other, just in- 
clining the head, the body a little bent, 
pp. 20—25. 

Chap. VII. Prostration and kissing 
the ground at certain offices. 



310 



CEREMONIAL OF THE NUNS OF ST. CYR. 



Chap. XXII. A weekly officer of 
the Choir appointed for certain minor 
religious services. 

Chap. XXIII. Except on particular 
days the cross was placed on the Ab- 
bess's bench (au banc de I/Abbesse). 
Tapers were borne before her when she 
went to the grate, in processions, &c. 
The cross was carried a little before her 
on the right side ; but the bearer did 
not touch it with the naked hand. The 
cross-bearer also presented the holy- 
water sprinkle at a certain office. 

Chap. XXV. Method of the Holy 
Water Benediction. The Nuns ranged 
themselves in front of the stalls, the 
Sacrist gave the sprinkle to the Abbess 
kneeling, and kissing her hand, retired 
a little behind her, both she and the 
Abbess having their backs turned to 
the Altar. The Prioress and rest of 
the Nuns then made a low reverence 
to receive the holy water. At other 
times the Nuns formed a circle, and 
were sprinkled by the presiding officer 
in the centre. 

Chap. XXVI. contains the Regula- 
tion of the whole day. If the Abbess 
has no want of her sister (sic) she 
waked the Society, and had the care 
of the clock ; otherwise, another Nun. 
Nearly the whole Society rose at 4 a.m. 
the others J past. She then opened 
the doors, grate, &c. and at § past 4 
rung the first bell of Mattins. Lauds 
followed immediately without ringing ; 
then half an hour^s prayer, unless it 
was abbreviated for justifiable reasons. 
Prime and Chapter succeeded; and 
until 8 they withdrew to dress, or of- 
ficial duties, or those enjoined. At 8, 
Tierce, followed by Mass, and, till 10, 
manual employment, except on certain 
days. At 10, Sexto On the fasts of 
the Rule about J past 10 ; if there was 
a double office, % past 10. On the 
fasts of the Church they left work at 
£ past 1 0, and withdrew to their cells, 
if they had no business in the offices. 
At £ past 11, Nones. Then to the 
Refectory in procession, from whence 
to the Church to say grace, ranged 
along the benches, from top to bottom. 

" If there be no fasts, they go from 



11 to 12 to refreshment all together: if 
there be fasts of the Rule, from £ past 
1 1 or thereabouts, till 1 . Upon fasts 
of the Church, from \ past 12 till 2. 
Upon days when there is no fast, si- 
lence at noon, and nones at 1. Work 
till 3. Upon fasts of the Rule, silence 
from after 1 to 2 ; and upon fasts of the 
Church from after 2 to 3 there is no 
work. Upon fasts of the Rule, the 
hour of labour is from 2 to 3 ; so that 
Vespers is always at 3. After this there 
is prayer for an hour. It must finish 
a little before tr past 4. If it be a fast 
they withdraw to their cells; are occu- 
pied in their offices, or may walk in the 
garden, or visit the sick." At | past 5 
the collation in the Refectory, from 
whence in procession to the Church to 
Complin. Afterwards the Benediction, 
Sprinkling with holy water, and at 9 at 
latest the Dormitory, pp. 102 — 108. 

Chap. XXXVI. A retirement once 
a year for eight or ten days, when they 
communicated once a day, and passed 
the time in holy meditation. 

Chap. XXXVII. Confession twice 
a week, upon Wednesdays and Satur- 
days, except upon certain festivals, &c. 
In the Confessional were half-hour 
glasses to regulate the time for confes- 
sion allowed to each Nun ; at first only 
a third of the sand, but this limitation 
being found to cramp the conscience, 
the whole half hour was allowed. 

Chap. XLI. records a custom of 
drawing tickets inscribed with the name 
of a month and some particular virtue. 
Each then drew one; and engaged to 
study that virtue during the time. 

Chap. XLII. On the Vigil of Ja- 
nuary the first, the Abbess brought to 
every cell some fine paper and a small 
candle ; and the next day, at the end of 
Prime, the Society wished the Abbess 
a happy new year, and received her 
Benediction. The Novices did the 
same also with their mistress, and the 
others at meeting kissed each other in 
token of amity. 

Upon the Vigil of the Epiphany, after 
the Benediction of the supper, or the 
collation, one or more cakes was placed 
upon the Abbess's table, and the 



CEREMONIAL OF THE NUNS OF ST. CYR. 



311 



youngest noviciates drew each a part. 
She who had the bean went to eat her 
portion at the Abbess's table. A wag 
would smile at the indulgencies granted 
to the sisters, consisting of suspensions 
of the law of silence after dinner, and 
in the evening, upon the Epiphany, the 
Sunday following, and Tuesday and 
Thursday before Septuagesinia. 

Chap. XLIII. Candlemas Day. The 
consecrating Priest wore a violet-co- 
loured cope. 

Chap. LXVIT. Festival of St. Cyr. 
Flowers were thrown upon the proces- 
sion as it passed. 

23 June. Vigil of St. John. A bonfire 
being made in the evening before the 
garden gate, all the Nuns assembled 
around it. The Abbess set fire to it, 
and, after a short religious ceremony, 
they withdrew in silence, " to imitate 
that of the Saint in his solitude.' 5 [Here 
is Druidism, &c. &c] 

Chap. LXXXI. Cells in the Dormi- 
tory. Doors to be always shut except 
in hot weather. The only furniture 
[except, of course, beds, &c] an image 
framed in black, like a picture, and two 
or three others quite simple : only six 
books allowed, except those which they 
had " dans le particulier/' Not to take 
physick in the Dormitory unless there 
were many sick, nor to bring any thing 
to eat there, except to the sick ; but on 
account of preserving silence in the 
Dormitory, always to prefer removal to 
the Infirmary. Those who " font des 
remedes," without sleeping in the In- 
firmary, to retire at 8 o'clock, and not 
to speak afterwards. No noise to be 
made by moving the furniture, knock- 
ing, &c. No one to leave it during the 
hours of silence ; and on this account 
pails of water to be provided every 
night for the use of the Nuns. No 
sweeping in the house, except during 
the garden promenades in the evening. 
— An Apothecary's shop mentioned in 
this chapter and elsewhere, as belong- 
ing to the house, under the care of an 
Apothecaress. 

Chap.LXXXII. The CommonHouse. 
Open, except in the hours of silence, 
when permission was necessary for 



work or reading while they warmed 
themselves. But they could not g 
there in a night dress, or to dress and 
undress without leave. 

If a Nun found herself there alone, 
she might request another to come, 
that the fire might be employed, p. 
254. 

Chap. LXXXIV. At the Colla- 
tion, about a quarter to six, humilia- 
tions of kissing the feet of any sister, 
&c. were practised. 

Chap. XCI. Infirmary. Phlebo- 
tomy in the foot is mentioned, p. 280. 

Chap. XCII. Garden. "They shall 
not go to the Garden alone without a 
great necessity, except on Festivals and 
Sundays, or (ou) it is permitted, and 
when they go there after Complin. It 
is usual to go there for a little more 
than three months during the heat of 
summer, after leaving Complin, till 8 
o'clock." The Abbess renewed the 
permission every year in Chapter of 
going to the Garden. No flowers ex- 
cept jessamin and violet to be picked, 
unless by assent of the Sacristan. Not 
to go there in a night or undress, but 
to put on the great scapulary at least 
for propriety's sake. Promenades in 
the Garden permitted at the hour after 
Prime, and at that after the prayers, on 
fast days. pp. 283, 284. 
Form of investing (a la vesture) a Choir 

Girl, i. e. making her a Noviciate. 

At the Chapter preceding the cere- 
mony, she begged on her knees the 
habit from the Abbess, who replied by 
a suitable exhortation. On the Vigil 
the Mistress of the Novices took the 
girl to ask pardon of the Mothers and 
Sisters. Upon the day, Prime, Tierce, 
and Sext were said successively with- 
out singing, that the sisters might go 
to dress, and after Mass and Commu- 
nion, the girl after the Abbess, the So- 
ciety went to breakfast in the Refectory 
upon some meat and wine. If the girl 
had parents or near relatives, she was 
to solicit their blessing before the cere- 
mony. Upon their arrival there were 
placed in the middle of the Choir a 
large carpet, a prie, Dieu covered with 
carpeting, upon which the crucifix was 



312 



CEREMONIAL OF THE NUNS OF ST. CYR. 



laid, a careau, a chair; and before a 
taper, ou il doit avoir une piece dor; 
near the Abbess's seat, a small table 
covered with a carpet, upon which were 
laid all the religious habits, a silver 
basin, scissars (une plote et des es- 
pingles), qu ? a pincushion and pins. 
Chairs were put for the Society ; and 
the Sacrist consecrated, sprinkled, and 
censed the habits. At the offering the 
Mistress of the Novices brought the 
girl to the grate, the taper being carried 
before her. The girl then having kissed 
the Pax, dropped the piece of gold into 
the silver bason held by the Subdeacon, 
and bowing, retired to her seat. After 
Mass and the Sermon, the Cross-bearer, 
accompanied by the Mistress, leaning 
the crucifix on the right arm, led the 
girl to the Abbess seated; she made her 
request, kissed the ground, bowed to 
the Abbess, and returned to her seat. 
The Chantress then commenced a ser- 
vice, each of the Nuns holding a lighted 
taper. After the response, the Mis- 
tress conducted the girl to the Sacristy, 
where she was stripped of her worldly 
habiliments, and re-clothed in a tu- 
nick, dishevelled hair, a crown of 
thorns upon her head, and the crucifix 
in her arms. As she entered the Choir 
a service commenced, at the end of 
which the Sacrist went to present the 
Ceremonial to the Abbess. The Mis- 
tress brought the girl to the Superior 
to give her the habit. The Sacrist held 
the book open all the time the girl was 
being drest. The Superior then cut off 
a lock of her hair in the form of a cross, 



adding a prayer signifying excision of 
superfluities and secular vanities. The 
girl was next clothed in the robe, 
girdle, scapulary, and white veil, with 
suitable prayers. Being thus arrayed, 
she kissed the feet of the Superior, re- 
sumed the crucifix, which she placed 
upon its stand in the middle of the 
Choir, and prostrated herself before it, 
the Convent performing a service. The 
girl next offered her taper to the Holy 
Virgin, over the Altar of the anti-choir. 
After some more prayers the girl re- 
turned and knelt before the Abbess, 
who said, ei My daughter, you shall no 
more be called, ( My sister so and so/ 
but, i My sister' [after the name of some 
Saint] /" The Superior then embraced 
her, and the Mistress led her round to 
embrace the community ; the Convent 
singing Te Deum, and the bells ring- 
ing. After that the grate was closed, 
and all that day the Novice dined at 
the table of the Abbess. ei Si elle fait 
la retraite elle aura son voile baisse 
celle qui ont des parends, qui les veulle 
voir en de hors, Fon les fait sortir la 
veille mais elle ny couche point/' 

Remark (sic) . The day of her invest- 
ment they made a small Altar, which 
they placed in the Chapter, properly 
dressed, and put upon it the rod, which 
was kept in the Dormitory. 

The ceremony was the same with a 
convert girl, only the bench was differ- 
ently placed, and there was no careau. 
Part ii. pp. 1 — 11. 

The forms of consecrating and pro- 
fessing Nuns have been before given. 



PEREGRINATORIUM RELIGIOSUM; 



OR, 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 



OF 



ANCIENT PILGRIMS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



COSTUMES OF PILGRIMS. 



The particular designations of Pil- 
grims were the Scrip, Staff or Bourdon, 
Palmer's Staff, Scarf, Bell, Sclavina, 
Hat, Rosary, Scrobula. 

The Scrip was derived from the 
Monks of Egypt. Charlemagne wore 
a golden Scrip when he went to Rome. 3 
It was the pouch or wallet in which 
Pilgrims carried their necessaries. Thus 
Chaucer, 

" In scrippe lie bare both bread and leeks." b 

It was made of leather. In the Life 
of S. Margaret is this passage : "And 
you shall visit me with a pilgrim's staff, 
the scrip hanging from your shoulder ;" 
and in a compotus from the year 1333 
to 1336 is an entry "for a scrip of seta," 
which I think not leather only, but 
leather with the hair on. c In the Ro- 
man de la Rose MS. it is coupled with 
the Bourdon, as will hereafter appear. 
Small ones are mentioned. 01 We find a 
Scrip and Mantle united/ and Pilgrims 
were called Manticulati from Mantica, 
the scrip. f The Anglo-Saxons had 
Scrips, and they were worn at the side.g 
The term Scrip also applied to the 
whole of a pilgrim's baggage, so far as 
concerned packages. 11 A Sack instead 
of a Scrip occurs, as carried by a fe- 
male poor pilgrim. 1 

Scarf. The Abbot of Cheminon, says 
a Pilgrim, gave me my Scarf, and bound 
it on me; and likewise put the Pil- 
grim's Staff in my hand. I made pil- 
grimages to all the holy places in the 



a Du Cange sur Joinville, Diss. 15. p. 151. Ed. 
Johnes. 

b Id. Gloss, v. Pera. c Id. v. Scarcella. 

d Id. v. Ferula. e V. Mantiperium. 

f Du Cange. 

s Lye, v. Codd. XV. Script. 370. M. Paris, 836. 

h See Ch. V. * Gold. Leg. fol. cxix. 



neighbourhood, on foot, without shoes, 
and in my shirt. k 

Authors often use the word Scarf 
instead of Scrip, because these Scrips 
or wallets were commonly attached to 
the Scarfs with which they begirded 
the pilgrims. 1 In general the Scarf is 
a mere leather thong or belt. 

In the thirteenth century, the French 
began to wear over the Cuirass the 
white Scarf, which afterwards charac- 
terized their military men. It was 
sometimes worn as a girdle, sometimes 
as a belt or baudrick. With them it 
was sometimes white; sometimes red. 
The Spaniards preferred it red; the 
Bavarians and Catalans black ; the Pa- 
latines, Inhabitants of the Rhine, the 
Danes and English blue. m Accordingly 
in old portraits of our military men in 
armour, we find it of blue silk : of that, 
or some similar material, as a designa- 
tion of officers, so late as the middle of 
the last century, 11 and at last converted 
into a sash, and worn around the waist. 
We hear of a Scrip being supported 
by a girdle or belt, and both occur in 
plates. The arms borne by the name 
of Tasborough are, 1. Argent, a chev- 
ron, between three stirrups pendent on 
as many palmers 5 staves, Sable. 2. Ar- 
gent, a chevron, between three pilgrims' 
staves, with pouches hanging on them, 
Sable, garnished Or. 

Bourdon Staff. He had a long staff 
in his hand, with a nobbe in the middle, 
according to the fashion of this Pil- 
grim^ Staff.P The fashion of all the 

k Joinville, i. p. 118. 
1 Du Cange sur Joinville, Diss. 15. 
m Maillot, iii. 112. 

n Grose's Military Antiquities, vol. i. p. 362. 
Plate of Salutes. 
Du Cange, v. Peramentum. 
P Coryatt's Crudities, i. 20. 



316 



COSTUMES OF PILGRIMS, 



staves, except the Palmers', is similar 
in the Plate, (p. 323,) and shows the 
error of the theatrical costume, in fur- 
nishing pilgrims with a long cross. 
Upon the arms of Sempringham is what 
is called a pilgrim's crutch, i. e. this 
long cross. a Taylor's Ind. Monast. p. 
32. Qu. ? If this be not a misnomer. 

The Staff was also called Bourdon, 
being, according to Hawkins, a walk- 
ing stick, excavated into a musical in- 
strument. 

The same author says, Bourdoun the 
base part in Chaucer ; the Bourdon in 
French is still not only in use, as the 
drone of a bagpipe, whence the burden 
of a song, but for the double Diapason, 
or lowest stop in French and German 
organs. b Burney says, the Bourdon 
was a kind of drone-base under the 
voice part. c It was doubtless applied 
to the use of pitching the note, or ac- 
companying the songs which Pilgrims 
used to recreate themselves on their 
journies, and supposed by Menestrierd 
to be Hymns and Canticles. It has 
been elsewhere noted, that it was cus- 
tomary for all ranks to sing aloud along 
the road while travelling. Pollux de- 
scribes the Embaterion as a flute used 
by the Greeks for recreation in travel- 
ling. e 

This Etymon from a musical use is 
more than doubtful. The barbarous 
Greek Bopbovia signified a beast of bur- 
den/ and the Bourdon was a staff of 
support. Besides it was a fashion 
which came from Syria. In the Roman 
D'Aubery MS. is the following line : 

S'il ait esclavine et bordon de Surie.z 

To which it may be replied, that the 
bordon de Surie, was perhaps the Pal- 
mer's Staff, and of different fashion 
from the round knobbed Pilgrim's bour- 
don ; if so, both staves were called 



a Taylor's Ind. Monast. p. 32. Qu? if this be not 
a misnomer. 

b Hawkins's Hist, of Musick, hi. 374. 

c Musick, i. 430. d As cited in Burney, ii. 326. 

e Enc. des Antiq. v. Embaterienne. 

{ Rigaltii GlossariumTacticumGreeco-barbarum, 
p. 45. 

* Du Cange, v. Selavina. 



bourdons. But all this is very uncer- 
tain ; for an old Romance says, " he had 
palm, and scarf, and good ferruled 
Bourdon ;" h where the latter was no 
doubt the common Bourdon, because 
palm is mentioned as accompanying it. 

The Roman de la. Rose MS. says, a 
" bourdon grant et fort,"* (a bourdon 
great and strong.) Du Cange, under 
the word Bordonatus, says, " turned 
[in a lathe] and terminated in the man- 
ner of a Pilgrim's Staff." Pilgrims who 
carried very large Bourdons were called 
by the Albigenses, Burdonarii. k 

Palmer's Staff. Peter Damian says, 
K Coming from Jerusalem, he bore a 
Palm in his hand. 1 " One Palmer is de- 
scribed as carrying a great club in 
hand ; m but Somner, in his Glossary of 
the Decern Scriptores, mentions a staff 
or boughs of Palm. However common 
palm branches may be, as attributes of 
female Saints, or Confessors, [i. e. holy 
men who died a natural death, not by 
martyrdom,] it is plain that they could 
not be preserved during so long a jour- 
ney as that from the Holy Land ; and 
as Jerusalem was a great mart for nick- 
nacks in that sera, they appear to have 
been supplied with staves of palm, of 
which the make was not always uniform. 
See the Plate, and explanation of it, p. 
323. 

A palm tree is the symbol of Judsea, 
as well as of Phenicia, upon Monu- 
ments. 11 

Bell, I have seen no account of any, 
except that of S. Brigid, the Irish Saint, 
in the second Chapter ; and the Can- 
terbury Bells, hereafter mentioned. 

Selavina. Du Cange says, the Sela- 
vina, which Somner ° by mistake calls 
Sclauma, is a very long coarse robe, 
sometimes at least of shaggy stuff, like 
the military Sagum, and was worn by 
slaves, whence the appellation. It was 
the common habit of Pilgrims, for an 
old Chronicle says, " walking on foot 

1 h Du Cange, v. Palmata. 
* Du Cange, v. Peregrinatio. 
k Du Cange, v. Burdones. 
1 Du Cange, v. Palmata. 

Decern Scriptores, col. 2322. 



n Enc. v. Judee. 



Gloss. X. Script. 






COSTUMES OF PILGRIMS. 



317 



in the habit of a Pilgrim, which is com- 
monly called Sclavina." Herbert de 
Miraculis says, " like any Jerusalemite, 
adorned with a palm, scrip, and staff, 
and covered with the Sclavina." a In 
the description of the habit of a Palmer 
it is white. b 

Hat. We hear of a Masquerade Pil- 
grim, clad in a coat of russet velvet, 
fashioned to his call, his hat being of 
the same, with scallop shells of cloth of 
silver. The figure of this hat, turned 
up in front, appears upon the Plate; 
and at Kingswood Church, in Wilt- 
shire, near Wotton Underedge, is a fine 
head in stained glass, with a hat of this 
kind, and the escallop in front. It ap- 
pears plain from the passages hereafter 
given from Strutt, that the hat con- 
tained on the turn-up front, tokens of 
the respective Pilgrimages, as 

I. Jerusalem Pilgrims, had the signs of 
Sinay. These, Strutt says, were relicks, 
brought from thence, and from the 
Holy Land. 

II. Pilgrims to Rome. The signs 
were, a cloak marked with cross keys, 
and the Veronique, or Vernicle (of 
which under Chapter X.) in front ; but 
whether of the Cloak, or Hat, does not 
appear. 

III. Compost ella Pilgrims. The es- 
callops, being denominated by ancient 
authors, the Shells of Gales, or Gallicia, 
plainly apply to this pilgrimage in par- 
ticular. Fuller however says, the es- 
callop shells were assumed by the Pil- 
grims, because used for cups and dishes 
by the Pilgrims in Palestine ; and that 
Nicholas de Villers, the first of the fa- 
mily, who attended Edward I. to the 
holy wars, bore the escallops to denote 
a tour to Palestine^ whereas it was 
usual to return by way of Compostella, 
and the shells appear to have implied 
this, in the instance mentioned. 

It appears by the Figures (see the 
Plate, p. 323.) that this hat, though ge- 
neral, was not universal; and that a 



a Du Cange, v. Sclavina. 

b Decern Script. 2322. 

c Nichols's Progresses, i. 3. 

d Church Hist. Cent. xii. p. 4; 



head- covering, evidently intended for 
shooting off wet, was a frequent substi- 
tute. 

Rosary. This is a term, properly 
speaking, only applied to chaplets of 
beads, used in prayers to the Virgin, 
but all chaplets of beads e are now so 
called. Coryatt's Pilgrim had chains 
about his neck of extraordinary great 
beads, whereon was the picture of our 
Lady, and Christ in her arms. f As 
connected with prayers, the first Chris- 
tian mention is made by Augustine, 
about the year 366 ; s but Du Choul ** 
is quoted for the same use of them 
among the classical Ancients. 1 Malms- 
bury mentions the use, that no prayers 
might be omitted. k Peter the Hermit 
invented a mode of praying by 55 cal- 
culi, or beads, so distinct in order, that 
after 10, each of the largest was affixed 
to the thread ; and, as many as the lat- 
ter were, so many times they recited 
the Lord's prayer; as many as the 
other, so many times the Angel's salu- 
tation, by going over the number three 
times ; thrice also they went over the 
shorter creed, which they called the 
Psalter of the Virgin Mary. It was in- 
vented, according to Polydore Virgil, 
about 1090. 

Of Rosaries, Dominick was the Au- 
thor. A Rosary consisted of a series of 
beads, 15 large, 150 small, intermixed, 
which they ran over, in reciting the 
Pater-Noster, from the larger, the Ave- 
Marias from the smaller, in honour 
of the 15 mysteries of Christ, whose 
censors [i. e. associate in worship) was 
the Virgin Mary.l These chaplets of 
beads were respectively of amber, or 
coral, or glass, or chrystal, or gold, or 
silver. The Nuns sometimes wore 
them from their necks. m The beads 
were called Gaudia, n and run over in 



e Douce, i. 32. f Crudities, i. 20. 

s Hanmer's Eusebius, 586. b P. 255. 

5 Roma Antiqua et Recens,p. 177. 

k Gest. Pont. L. iv. — Mr. Douce on Shakespeare, 
i. 32. thinks that they were brought by Crusaders 
from the East. 

I Du Cange, v. Rosarium. 

m Du Cange, v. Pater -nosier. 

II Ibid. v. Gaudia. 



318 



COSTUMES OF PILGRIMS. 



repeating Ave-Marias. Sometimes the 
prayers were said by counting the 
fingers instead of beads. a An Ave- 
Maria, said with one of the aforesaid 
grains, was presumed to deliver a soul 
from Purgatory . b They were mostly 
made of glass. c A pair of Paternosters 
of great pearl were among the effects of 
Maur. Lord Berkeley in the reign of 
Edw. II. d In Spain few women go 
without the doors, walk, play, or toy, 
without a rosary in the hand. The men 
are never without one hanging round 
their necks. In the comedies, if the 
Devil be chained, it is with a rosary ; 
and he then makes a dreadful howl, by 
which the good people are much edi- 
fied. 6 

Scrobula. This was the robe, worn 
by female Pilgrims, and, except closer 
sleeves, like to that of the men. Saint 
Odoric says, " but these women walk 
unshod, wearing Scrobulse, even to the 
ground." b It was essential, as will 
soon appear, that the garments of Pil- 
grims should be of woollen ; and the 
Roman de Vache says, 

" En Jerusalem fist Peregrination 

En langes et nus piez a grant devotion ;" 

i. e. a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in wool- 
len, and naked feet, with great devotion. 
In the 14th century, breeches were ge- 
nerally made of linen, and considered 
a part of dress, essential to ease and 
indulgence ; hence in an old romance, 
where one of the heroes is resolved 
upon pilgrimage, it is mentioned, as a 
great instance of mortification, that he 
refused to take with him either shirt or 
breeches ; and it was common, for Piers 
Plowman, speaking of the poverty of 
Pilgrims, says, " In poure cotes for Pil- 
grimage to Rome — no breeche be- 
twene." s 

Bare-feet, This was a very essential 
part of penitentiary pilgrimage. Ter- 



a Angl. Sacr. i. 13. 

b English Spanish Pilgrim, 4to, 1630, p. 18. 

c Du Cange, v. Roscida. 

d Smyth's Berkeley MSS. 

e Bourgoanne, iii. 359, 360. 

1 Du Cange, v. Scrobula. 

e Strutt's Dressess, ii. 336. 



tullian n mentions the annunciation of 
Nudipedalia, during drought, among 
the classical antients ; but the first ap- 
pearance of the custom in the later eeras, 
was, according to Evagrius, in a sect of 
Hereticks, mentioned by Augustine,, 
about the year 435, who went so from 
mistaking certain passages in Scripture. 
The Apostles are represented by Pe- 
trarch to have gone bare-footed. 1 It 
was a custom annexed to some civil 
punishments. k We read of a religious 
person, who pulled off his shoes, when 
in sight of a monastery, because he was 
unwilling to approach dwellings of 
martyrs, without a martyrdom on his 
own part. 1 

In the wood-cuts of the Golden Le- 
gend, published by Julian Notary in 
150:3, is the image of S. Roche, with 
the hat, staff, scrip, &c. He holds up 
his clothes, that, as Sir David Lindsay 
says, 

Saint Roch well scaled men may see 
A boil new broken on his thie. 

Monarchy, B. ii. p. 64. 

to shew the effects of the pestilence 
which had seized him. The dog is 
Gotarde 5 s Hound, {i that by the purve- 
aunce of God brought fro the Lordes 
borde brede unto saint Roche" whole 
loaves at a time. m 

"It seems/* says Strutt, "to have 
been almost as fashionable, in the days 
of Chaucer, to make occasional visits 
to the tomb of some favourite saint, as 
it now is to frequent the different wa- 
tering-places. 11 Particular habits were 
appropriated to these occasions ; it is 
indeed certain, that they were not ab- 
solutely necessary ; but few, I presume, 
who were actuated by real principles of 
religion appeared without them. Such 
Pilgrims abstained from all secular va- 
nities, travelled barefooted, clothed in 
garments of the coarsest cloth, and 



h P. 713. Ed. Rigalt. 

1 Mem. de Petrarque, ii. 95. 

k Du Cange, v. Arestara et Arrestare. 
' l Angl. Sacr. ii. 301. 

ra Golden Legend, fol. cxliv. 

n Tyrwhitt (Gloss. Chaucer) notei that the verb 
to play in one sense signified to go upon a pil- 
grimage. 



COSTUMES OF PILGRIMS. 



319 



subsisted upon the charitable contri- 
butions of those they met with on their 
journey. In the Romance of the Four 
Sons of Aymont, which probably is 
about the twelfth century, one of the 
heroes, renouncing all secular pursuits, 
determines upon a pilgrimage, and re- 
quests for that purpose, a coat, or tu- 
nick, to be made of coarse cloth, and a 
large hat or hood, and [a bourdon fer- 
ruled a with iron] ; to which his friends, 
contrary to his wishes, added shoes 
made of cows 5 skin [neat leather, the 
thickest, best for duration and wear], 
but could by no means prevail upon 
him to accept of breeches, stockings or 
a shirt, or any other soft or comfort- 
able garment. 

In Pierce the Ploughman's Visions 
a personage is introduced apparelled 
as a Pilgrim, bearing a burden bound 
about with a broad list upon his back, 
and a bag and a bowl b by his side ; his 
cloak was marked with crosses, inter- 
spersed with the Keys of Rome (two 
keys crossed) and a vernicle in the front 
[see Ch. X.] Upon his hat were placed 
the signs of Sinay, and shells of Gules ; 
that it might be known by these tokens, 
for whose sake he had travelled ; there- 
fore being asked whence he came, he re- 
plied, '? Ye may see by the signes that 
sitteth on my cappe," and added that 
he had visited Sinai, the Holy Sepul- 
chre, Bethlem, and variety of other 
places. "The pilgrim's habit, as it 
was delineated in the fourteenth cen- 



tury, is given in the Plate/ p. 323, fig. 
1. His hat is turned up in the front, 
with an escallop-shell affixed to it : he 
is barefooted, and holds a staff in his 
left hand. This figure in the original 
painting is intended for the portraiture 
of Saint James : and for that reason, 
by way of distinction, I presume, the 
border of gold is added to the sleeves, 
and at the bottom of the garment ; for 
all such ornaments were generally con- 
sidered as highly indecorous to the 
profession of a pilgrim." 

The figure just described appears 
with a long beard : It was dangerous at 
the commencement of the thirteenth 
century, for a stranger to appear with 
a beard. d 

" Peter Auger, valet to Edward the 
Second, obtained from that Monarch 
letters of safe conduct, he being desir- 
ous of visiting the holy places abroad, 
as a Pilgrim ; and having made a vow 
not to shave his beard, was fearful, 
without such documents, of being taken 
for a Knight Templar, and insulted. It 
was by no means uncommon with Lay 
Pilgrims to make such a vow, and to 
extend it still further to the hair of their 
head e and their finger nails : conceiv- 
ing, I suppose, that the resemblance to 
a savage was a positive mark of piety 
and humbleness of mind." f 

A female pilgrim, with the staff, scrip, 
hat, and scrobula, is engraved in Strutt's 
Dresses, pi. cxxxiv. 



COSTUMES OF CRUSADERS. 



In 1094, Urban II. preached the first 
Crusade. The Crusaders received from 
the hand of a Priest or some other Ec- 
clesiastick a cross of red stuff, which 



was placed upon their hood or left 
shoulder. 

Upon the stained glass, about the 
time of the first croisade, the Pilgrims 



* Tin bourdon ferre ; which Strutt by mistake 
calls a staff headed with iron. 

b See chap. VII. 
Copied from Royal MSS. in British Museum, 
15 D. iii. This figure is also engraved by Strutt, 
PI. cv. 

d So far as concerns Pilgrims, Strutt here re- 
quires explanation. In the 12th Century the 
Laity and Clergy had all renounced the beard ; the 



peasants only, and those who had travelled to the 
Holy Land, did not shave, after the example of the 
Orientals. Costumes, &c. par iYlaillot, iii. 89. 

e Communem gerens peregrinationis consuetu- 
dinem, baculum et peram circumferens, coma ca- 
pitis, et barba prolixa. De Secundo Philosopho, 
Scriptor. p. Bed. 464, a. 

1 Strutt's Dresses, ii. 313. seq. 



320 



COSTUMES OF CRUSADERS. 



carry a cross upon their banners, their 
helmets, their mail jacket, sleeves, and 
hoods ; their bucklers were still with- 
out heraldick distinction, and they had 
for arms only a lance and sword. a 

Philip II. having determined to un- 
dertake a Croisade in 1188, came to 
St. Dennis to take the oriflamme, scrip, 
and bourdon. The Crusaders, who 
followed them, put then a cross of red 
stuff behind their habit. b 

Though the use of Arms is very an- 
cient, yet they did not become here- 
ditary till the Crusades. The Cru- 
saders invented Arms to distinguish 
themselves in battle. They were at 
first only particular marks or colours, 
which they put upon their bucklers, 
their coats of arms, their banners, the 
trappings of their horses : and whole 
families adopted them, no doubt to 
make it known that they belonged to 
conquerors, but these marks did not 
become hereditary till the age of Louis 
IX. towards the year 1230. 

If the shields of the warriors before 
the Crusades contained any distinction, 
it was but an emblem, and most com- 
monly their monogram or cypher. Many 
Crusaders took crosses, of which they 
changed the form and the colour. Those 
of the French in general were white ; 
of the Spaniards, red; of the Italians, 
blue; of the Germans, black, ox orange; 
of the English, yellow or red; of the 
Saxons, green A 

Besides the bearings with which they 
decorated the coat of arms, the shield, 
&c. they wore a scarf, of which the co- 
lour distinguished the province from 
which they came. The colour of the 
Earls of Flanders was a deep green; 
that of the Earls of Anjou was a grass 
green ; of the Dukes of Burgundy, red ; 
of the Earls of Blois and Champagne, 
sky blue; of the Dukes of Lorraine, 
yellow; of the Dukes of Brittany, black 
and white. The Vassals of these differ- 
ent Princes wore scarfs of their Princes' 



a Maillot, Costumes, 
b Id. p. 91. 
d Id. p. 93. 


iii. 


71. pi. 
c Id. p 


23. 
. 86. 



colours, and such, even of these Vas- 
sals, as were allied to them, or who 
possessed any considerable office about 
their persons, affected to join to the 
colours of their particular liveries, a 
little band or fringe, more or less large, 
of the livery of their lord. e 

The crosses or badges, says Du 
Cange, were generally of cloth, inter- 
woven with gold, or silk, latterly of any 
cloth. In an expedition against Man- 
fred of Sicily, as a Heretick, they wore 
across divided in colours, of which one 
part was white, another red. On some 
other expeditions, in distinction from 
those of Jerusalem, they wore a cross, 
not on their shoulders, but on the 
breast, and there were other distinc- 
tions not within our subject/ 

The crosses were sometimes of fine 
Goldsmiths' work.g 

The cross of the French King and 
his followers was of vermillion. h The 
English carried a red cross upon a 
white ground, the French a white cross 
upon a red ground, i The figure of a 
Crusader, completely armed, has a 
close helmet, mail gorget, the rest of 
his armour, partly mail, and partly 
plaited. Upon his shield, his breast, 
and his square banner, attached to his 
lance, is St. George's cross, i. e. red or 
gules upon a white ground. k This iter- 
ation of arms in the days of chivalry 
was intended to denote a resolution to 
atchieve some great feats of arms. 

Sir John Chandos, says Froissart, 
was dressed in a large robe, which fell 
to the ground, blazoned with his arms, 
in white sarcenet, " Arg. a pile gules," 
one on his breast, the other on his 
back. 

Thus he appeared resolved on some 
adventurous undertaking. 1 

The information on this subject to 
be found in Heraldick works, is of 
course declined here. 



c Maillot, p. 94. 

f Du Cange, v. Crux. 

? See Chapter VII. 

h Froissart, iii. 105. 

* Erasmi Franciscani Colloq. 276. 

u Lysons's Environs, i. 529. ' iv. 45. 




Aiutirut sculp- 



MEGRIMS'. 



' I ••" / -- ••' 



COSTUMES OF CRUSADERS, 



321 



Explanation of the Plate.* Fig. 1 . is 
a simple Pilgrim. (See p. 319.) Fig. 2. 
was designed by Mr. Alexander, from a 
monument in Ashby de la Zouch Church, 
Leicestershire. (See before p. 294.) This 
and the next figure, both shod, are 



a For the drawings used in this Plate, the Editor 
was indebted to the late eminent Draughtsman and 
truly amiable man, William Alexander, esq. of the 
British Museum. 



Palmers. The staves differ ; and there 
is another different, engraved in Archse- 
ologia, vol. xiv. pi. xxxvii. f. 2. The 
shoe, like the countryman's half-boot, 
is the Doric Cretan shoe worn by Diana 
succincta, and hunters, to save the 
ancles in leaping rocks. See M. Mil- 
lin in Magas. Encyclop. for 1809, 
p. 115. Fig. 3. is copied from Brit. 
Mus. Cott. MSS. Tib. A. vn. ; and 
Fig. 4. from Royal MSS. B. VII. 



322 



ANTIQUITY OF PILGRIMAGE. 



CHAPTER I. 



ANTIQUITY OF PILGRIMAGE. — BRITISH PILGRIMS. 



Cicero, in a letter to Atticus, says, 
that if he did not accept the offer which 
Caesar made to him of serving under 
him in Gaul, in the quality of Lieute- 
nant, he had a pretext for leaving 
Rome, that of going elsewhere to fulfil 
a vow. a An old Spanish poet pretends, 
that Alexander the Great, after con- 
quering Egypt, went to the Temple of 
Jupiter Ammon [in the Oasis ; see 
Brown] and took the Scrip and Bour- 
don. h It would be needless to produce 
more instances of so well-known a 
practice, as making visitSj upon parti- 
cular occasions, to celebrated Temples, 
or Oracles. Such a practice is a natu- 
ral impulse of religious sentiment and 
pious regard. The custom, however, 
increased towards the decline of the 
Roman Republick, c and from a pre- 
posterous desire of imitating Paganism, 
and blending it with Christian worship, 
arose, in the fourth century, Pilgrim- 
ages to Palestine and the tombs of the 
Martyrs. d They were said to be found- 
ed upon the approbation of the Fa- 
thers : e and formed part, under circum- 
stances, of the Sacrament of Penance. 
Accordingly in this century Pilgrimages 
from Britain to Jerusalem were com- 
mon. Gregory of Nice and Jerom both 
say, " The Celestial Court equally lies 
open from Jerusalem and Britain : for 
the Kingdom of God is within you. 
Antony, and all the swarms of Monks 
of Egypt, and Mesopotamia, Pontus, 
Cappadocia, and Armenia, have not 
seen Jerusalem : and the gate of Para- 
dise lies open to them, without that 
city. The blessed Hilarion, though he 
was a native of Palestine, and lived in 
that Country, only saw Jerusalem for 



• Opera, ii. 134. Ed. fol. Lond. 1681. 
b Du Cange, v. Burdo. 

c Encyclopedic de3 Antiquites, v. Vceu. 

d Mosheim, i. 191. Ed. 4to. 

* Lyndewood'a Provinciale, p. 298. 



one day, that he might neither seem to 
despise the holy places, on account of vi- 
cinity, nor on the other hand to inclose 
God in a particular spot/' A further 
evidence that the Britons resorted to 
Palestine, among other Nations, is the 
relation concerning Melania, by Palla- 
dius, in his Lausiac History, and the 
epistle, written by Jerom, in the name 
of Paula and Eustochius. This Mela- 
nia, one of the most noble of the women 
of Rome, and daughter of Marcellinus, 
who had been once Consul, made a 
voyage to Jerusalem, where she was so 
celebrated for her virtue and humility, 
that she received the name of Tecla. f 
She, and Rufinus, her particular com- 
panion, received all the Pilgrims at Je- 
rusalem with hospitality ; " which," 
says Palladius, c * it is not only my duty 
to mention, but that of the inhabitants 
of Persis, Britain, and all the Isles. 
Neither East, West, North and South, 
has been without the kindness and 
bounty of this immortal woman." Je- 
rom, writing in the name of Paula and 
Eustochius, says, " The Briton, divided 
from our world, if he has made any 
progress in Religion, leaving the West, 
seeks a place known only to them by 
fame, and the relation of the Scrip- 
tures;" and a little after, speaking of 
other visitors, he says, " They meet to- 
gether, at these places, and exhibit to 
us a specimen of various virtues. Their 
language is indeed different ; but their 
Religion the same. There are almost 
as many Choirs of Psalm-singers, as 
there are diversities of nations." This 
unity of religion, and conformity of the 
Britons, in this respect, not so much 



1 It is remarkable, that at Tiddenham in Glou- 
cestershire, (part of Wales, before the reign of 
Henry VIII.) was a Chapel of St. Tecla (now 
under water,) corrupted into treacle : but no such 
dedication occurs in England. Possibly the Bri- 
tish Pilgrims took shipping here. 



BRITISH PILGRIMS, 



323 



with the Roman Church in particular, 
as with the Catholick and Universal, 
he further shows in an Epistle to Eva- 
grius: "Neither is there one Church of 
Rome, and another of the whole world. 
Both the Gauls, and Britons, and 
Africa, and Persia, and the East, and 
India, and all the barbarous nations, 
worship one Christ, observe one rule 
of truth. If authority be required, the 
world is larger than a city. Whereso- 
ever there is a bishop, whether at Rome, 
or Eugubium, or Constantinople, or 
Rhegium, or Alexandria, or Tanis, it 
has the same husband, the same priest- 
hood." Notwithstanding, the Britons 
visited Rome in common with other 
nations, and setting sail from Porto 
Romano, not only passed over into Pa- 
lestine, but even the neighbouring Sy- 
ria, whither they were attracted by the 
fame of Simeon Stylites, the Ascetick, 
who passed his life upon a pillar. 3 To 
this Simeon refers the following passage 
of Theodoret, who wrote the life of this 
lunatick during his existence : i: Many, 
who inhabit the extremes of the West, 
Spaniards, I say, and Britons, and 
Gauls came thither." Jerom, in his 
epitaph of Fabiola, the celebrated lady, 
who is well known as the first founder 
of an Infirmary, says, " All the world 
has heard of the Xenodochium, situ- 
ated at Porto Romano. In one sum- 
mer, Britain has learned, what the 
Egyptian and Parthian have known in 
the spring." b Hence it appears, that in 
this, as in the later eeras, Pilgrims were 
eminent for conveying news. 

Lewis, in his Life of Caxton, p. 77> 
&c. says, "The practice of going in 
pilgrimage to Jerusalem or the Holy 
Land was new in the fourth century ; 
when about the latter end of it, Gregory 
Nyssen wrote a learned letter to dis- 
suade Christians from going thither on 
that errand; and was at last, here in 
England, treated with contempt and 
ridicule, as only a pretence for sloth 
and laziness/' 

a Of him, see postea. 
Usserii Antiquit. Eccles. Britannic, pp. 109, 



110. 



Dibdin's Typographical Antiq. i. 176. 



We have an account of some man- 
ners and customs of these British Pil- 
grims in the lives of David, and the 
accounts of his two friends and com- 
panions, Eliud or Teliaus, and Pater- 
nus. An Angel appeared to David and 
Eliud, as another had done to the mo- 
ther of Saint Roche, the Patron Saint 
of Pilgrims, and urged the journey to 
Jerusalem upon the very next morn- 
ing. The two companions were added 
from the old British respect for the 
Trinity. They went on shipboard, down 
the Channel, the Bay of Biscay, and 
the Mediterranean, passing their days 
and nights in psalms, hymns, spiritual 
canticles, and divine converzationes. 
They did not, as many Pilgrims, take 
much money with them, not even a 
staff and scrip, but trusted to Provi- 
dence. The hospitality of Believers 
furnished them with all necessaries, 
which, as it is very probable most of 
our early religious professed some know- 
ledge of medicine, d they repaid by cur- 
ing diseases, actions assigned to their 
sanctity. When they met with robbers, 
they offered them what they had ; but 
these (according to a respect usually 
paid to all Pilgrims, of which hereafter), 
not only refused to take it, but guided 
them, till they arrived at places of safety. 
At Jerusalem they were received by all 
the people in procession with psalms 
and hymns, and so conducted to the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and 
placed in three remarkable chairs. e They 
preached alternately, by this means in- 
tending to convey an idea of the Tri- 
nity, and to confirm their hearers in 
the belief of that doctrine. They were 
consecrated Bishops in this Temple, 
plainly without any appointment from 
home, and received valuable presents, 
suited to their qualifications. Paterrms 
received a staff (in token of his being a 



d See jNIarianus Scotus, a 593-4. 

e The Druidical Deasuil, or triple procession, 
the Triads, &c. paved the way for this veneration 
of the Trinity. In the Pilgrimage to Holy Wells 
the Druids prescribed three several tours; and if 
the patient died before the Pilgrimage was finished, 
some intimate friend concluded it. Smith's Gaelic 
Antiq. p. 79. 

Y 2 



324 



BRITISH PILGRIMS. 



rector cAon^andachoralcope, wrought 
with very valuable silk, because he was 
an excellent singer; David, a conse- 
crated portable altar; and Teliaus, a 
small hand-bell, of exquisite sound, and 
wonderful properties. It condemned 
the perjured, cured the sick, and sound- 
ed every hour, without any one moving 
it, unless it was touched by the pol- 
luted hands of a sinner. b Probably it 
contained some mechanism, sufficient 
to strike the hours, and hand-bells 
were used by the Welsh, till recently, 
at funerals. d 

In Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Ac- 
count of Scotland, vol. xvii. p. 377? 
under Killin Parish, co. Perth, Mr. 
Stuart, the minister, says, " There is a 
bell, belonging to the chapel of St. Fil- 
lan, that was in high reputation among 
the votaries of that saint in old times. 
It seems to be of some mixed metal. 
It is about a foot high, and of an ob- 
long form. It usually lay on a grave- 
stone in the church-yard. When mad 
people were brought to be dipped in 
the Saint's Pool, it was necessary to 



a See before, pp. 62, 120. 

b Angl. Sacr. ii. 637. 663, seq. 

c Beckrnan (Invent, i. 442,) allows something of 
this kind to the Monastick Horologe ; hut he dis- 
putes the ancientry of every thing. 

d Hoare's Giraldus, i 22. 



perform certain ceremonies, in which 
there was a mixture of Druidism and 
Popery. After remaining all night in 
the chapel, bound with ropes, the bell 
was set upon their head with great so- 
lemnity. It was the popular opinion, 
that, if stolen, it would extricate itself 
out of the thief's hands, and return 
home ringing all the way." e 

From the preceding accounts the 
Pilgrimage of Arthur to Jerusalem was 
not perhaps an invention ; f for more 
than 90,000 Christians perished in the 
Holy Land when Chosroes took Jeru- 
salem in the seventh century. s Many 
years afterwards a Hospital was found- 
ed at Rome for Welsh Pilgrims by 
Cadwallader, King of Wales. n 

From the further instance of Regu- 
lus the Abbot being directed by an 
Angel, to make a Pilgrimage, in order 
to effect the translation of the relicks 
of St. Andrew to Scotland, 1 there is 
every reason to infer, that a visitation 
of this celestial kind was a common 
superstition of this age, as a preliminary 
of Pilgrimage. 



e Popular Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 594, n. p. See 
the suhject continued in the next page. 
f Nennius, XV Script. 115. 
s Cluveri Universalis Historia, p. 386. 
h Fuller's Church Hist. B. ix. p. 86. 
1 Fordun, L. 2. c. 46. XV Script, p. 614. 



PILGRIMAGES OF THE SCOTS, IRISH, AND ANGLO-SAXONS. 325 



CHAPTER II. 



PILGRIMAGES OF THE SCOTS, IRISH, AND ANGLO-SAXONS, 



Among the usual Pilgrimages, com- 
mon to the other nations of the same 
eeras, the Scots and Irish intermingled 
Druidical practices. At lona is the 
base of a cross, in which are certain 
stones, which Pilgrims turn three times 
round, supposing that the end of the 
world will not ensue until the stone in 
which they are is worn through. They 
probably succeeded to three white mar- 
ble globes, placed in three stone basons 
to be turned round, but at the Refor- 
mation, thrown into the sea. a 

It is pretended, that through the 
false story of the interment of Patrick 
at Glastonbury, it was the custom of 
the Irish to make Pilgrimages there, in 
order to kiss his relicks. Among these 
holy visitors was Brigid in the year 
488, who left behind her as a memo- 
rial, her scrip, monile, b bell, c and tex- 

a Gough's Camden, iii. 715. 

b Monile. An old Author says, "Monile is an 
ornament of the breast, quasi munile a munio, be- 
cause it protects the bosoms of women, so that 
Lecatores (Lechers) cannot thrust their hands into 
them." Du Cange, v. Lecator. Isidore calls it a 
necklace of gems, resembling a serpent. Id. v. 
Serpentum. 

c The origin of the bell (says Mr. Stuart) is to 
be referred to the most remote ages of the Celtic 
Churches, whose ministers spoke a dialect of that 
language. Ara Trode, one of the most ancient 
Icelandic historians, tells us, in his second chap- 
ter, that when the Norwegians first planted a co- 
lony in Ireland, about the year 870, " Eo tempore 
erat Islandia silvis concreta, in medio montium et 
littorum : turn erant hie viri Christiani, quos Nor- 
wegi Papas appellant : et illi peregre profecti sunt, 
ex eo quod nollent esse hie cum viris Ethnicis, et 
relinquebant post se Nolas et baculos ; ex illo pote- 
rat discerni quod essent viri Christiani." Nola 
and Bajula both signify hand-bells. See Du Cange. 
Giraldus Cambrensis, who visited Ireland about the 
end of the 12th century, speaks thus of these re- 
licks of superstition: "Hoc non pretereundum 
puto, quod campanas, bajulas, baculosque sancto- 
rum, ex supperiore parte recurvos, auro et argento 
aut sere confectos, tarn Hiberniae et Scotia?, quam 
et Givallise populus et Clerus in magna reverentia 
habere solet ; ita ut juramenta supra hsec, longe 
magis quam super Evangelia et prsestare vereantur 
et perjurare. Ex vi enim quadam occulta, et iis 
quasi divinitus insita, nee non et vindicta (cujus 
prsecipue sancti illi appetibiles esse videntur) ple- 
rumque puniuntur contemptores." He elsewhere 
speaks of a bell in Ireland, endowed with the same 
locomotive powers as that of St. Fillan, who is 
said to have died in 649. Popular Antiquities, ii. 
595. note *. 



trilia arma, whether it means a distaff, 
&c. or scarf, or clothes. d 

Besides the other pilgrimages, com- 
mon to all nations and eeras, it appears 
from the Legend of St. Brandon, e that 
nautical Pilgrimages were made to 
Islands which they denominated Para- 
dise, but were, in fact, according to For- 
dun, the Fortunate Islands/ They are 
the Canaries, where it is certain that 
Strabo, and other Ancients, from the 
fecundity of the soil, and perpetual 
spring, placed the Elysian Fields. It 
is pretended, that after the decline of 
the Roman Empire, they were unknown 
till the year 1291 ; s but in fact, Colum- 
bus derived the knowledge of America 
from some Spanish- Arabian Voyagers. b 
In short, any country very fertile and 
pleasant, was denominated Paradise. 1 

In this migratory age, Pilgrimage 
was a kind of Tyrocinium, or appren- 
ticeship, served in various places, in 
order to acquire a stock of novel eccle- 
siastical customs and knowledge, with 
which to enlighten the barbarous inha- 
bitants upon their return. This appears 
in the Lives of nearly all the early 
Saints. The Irish and Scots were re- 
markable beyond other Nations for 
restless Pilgrimages over the whole 
world ; often in severe colds, and sum- 
mer heats. k The Pilgrimages of the 
Anglo-Saxons commenced, according 
to Eddius, about the year 700. 1 

Rome was the favourite destination 
of the Anglo-Saxons. Ina grew old 
there, u cloathed in a plebeian habit 
among beggars. ' J m 

There appear to be no particular 
customs, which did not obtain in sub- 
sequent asras. 

d Guil. Malmesbury in Antiquit. Glaston. XV 
Scriptores, p. 298. 

e Golden Legend, cexxx. b. 

f Scriptores, 635. 

k Mem. de Petrarque, ii. 200. 

h See a paper in the Notices. 

1 Bunting's Itinerarie, 1636, 359. 4to. 

k Du Cange, v. Scoti. 

1 Id. v. Peregrini. m XV Scriptores, 2-18. 



326 



CONSECRATION OF PILGRIMS. 



CHAPTER III. 



CONSECRATION OF PILGRIMS. 



saymg, 
"let us 



"the Lord 
pray, &c/" 



The Pilgrims first confessed all their 
sins, a after which they lay prostrate 
before the Altar. Particular prayers 
and psalms were then said over them, 
and after every psalm [with manifest 
skilful appropriation] the Gloria Patri ; 
the Psalm, Ad te, Domine, levavi ; and 
the Miserere. At the end of these, the 
Pilgrims arose from their prostrate po- 
sition, and the Priest consecrated their 
scrips and staves, 
be with you," and 

He next sprinkled holy water upon 
their scrips and staves, and placed the 
scrip around the neck of each Pilgrim, 
with other religious services. After- 
wards he delivered to them the staff 
with similar prayers. If any of the 
Pilgrims were going to Jerusalem, their 
garments were in readiness, marked 
with the cross, and the crosses were 
consecrated, and holy water sprinkled 
over them. The garments and crosses 
were then delivered to the Pilgrims, 
accompanied by appropriate prayers. 
The service concluded with the Mass, 
De Iter Agenlibus. h 

Offerings were paid for consecration 
of the Scrip. In the Penitential of 
Theodore it is said, " In the aforesaid 
Church, the Priest is accustomed to 
consecrate the Scrip and Staves of the 



Pilgrims, and receive Id. from the ob- 
lation.^' 

Elsewhere it appears, concerning Je- 
rusalem Pilgrims, that immediately after 
the Sermon, preached on the occasion, 
the cross was sewed upon the shoul- 
ders, and at least placed there by the 
Bishop ; d for according to Du Cange, 
to affix the cross was a privilege of that 
order only. e 

Kings even assumed the Scrip and 
Staff. King Richard the First, at 
Tours, in sign of his immediately un- 
dertaking the pilgrimage to the Holy 
Land, received the Scrip and Staff. f 

The arms of the Pilgrims were also 
consecrated.^ 

By the Laws and Customs of Nor- 
mandy, a Pilgrim having received 
licence, was led out of the Parish when 
going to Jerusalem, Rome, or St. 
James's, or any other pilgrimage, with 
the Cross, Holy Water, and Procession. 11 

In Pilgrimages of Penance and Punish- 
ment, this previous consecration, at 
least sometimes, did not take place. 
In the Metrical Romance of Robert the 
Devil; Robert, become penitent, travels 
without any ecclesiastical ceremony to 
the Pope, who, after hearing his con- 
fession, directed him to go to a hermit 
three miles off. 



" In the morning Robert walked over hyll and dale, 
He was full werye of his labourynge. 
At the last he came in to a greate vale, 
And found same hermyte standinge. 
He spake with the hermyte, and shewed of his lyvinge, 
And tolde that he was sente fro the Pope of Rome. 
But when that holy man hearde hys confession, 
He sayed, brother, ye be right welcome. 



a This was deemed indispensable before pilgrim- 
age. Gold. Leg. f. cxviii. 

b Manuale ad usum Ecclesiae Sarisberiensis, 4to. 
b. lett. 1554. fol. lxx. seq. Tit. Ordo ad Servitium 
Pcreyrinorum. 



Angl. Sacr. ii. 490. 



c Du Cange, v. Per a. 

e Litt. c. p. 1183. 

f Girald. Cambrens. Angl. Sacr. ii. 387 

% Du Cange, v. Armorum Benedictio. 

h Id. v. Peregrinatio. 



CONSECRATION OF PILGRIMS. 

And for your syimes ever you must be sorye, 

For as yet I will not assoylle youe. 

In a lyttell chappell all nyght shall youe lye. 

Do ye as I do youe councelle nowe ; 

Aske God mercy, and let youre hearte bowe ; 

For all thys nyght I wyll wake and praye 

Unto oure Lorde, that I maye knowe 

Yf in salvacion ye do stande in the waye." — Page 33. 



327 



Robert is dismissed with his pe- 
nance ; of which hereafter ; but that 
only, for the consecration appears to 
be withheld, partly on account of the 



penance, not admitting the Pilgrim's 
habit, partly because the absolution 
could not be added. 









328 



PREPARATORY STEPS TO THE JOURNEY. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PREPARATORY STEPS TO THE JOURNEY. 



In 1187, the Pagans having obtained 
by their incursions a great part of the 
Holy Land, Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of 
Durham, animated by the example of 
other Bishops and Abbots, took the 
Cross, and extorted from his tenants a 
large sum for his travelling expences ; 
he built also for himself and his reti- 
nue a very handsome ship for his own 
safety, and the conveyance of stores. 
He also carried culinary utensils, and 
different vessels of silver ; as well as a 
seal of that metal, admirably executed 
and beautiful, that he might surpass 
the glory of other Bishops and Dukes. a 

Giraldus Cambrensis says, that he 
had sold the corn of the Church of 
Landu, and all the revenues of the 
Archdeaconry for three years, under 
the privilege of Crusaders, to two 
Burgesses of Aberhotehni, because be- 
fore he had made his journey to the 
Roman Court, he had affixed the cross 
to his shoulders. b 

In 1240, Simon de Montfort, Earl 
of Leicester, after coming to Court, 
went to his estates for collecting money, 
and selling woods and lands, to pro- 
vide the necessaries for his journey 
to Jerusalem. The Hospitalers and 
Canons of Leicester then bought of 
him the noble wood of Leicester for 
1000/. c 

This shows, that the Monks and 
other religious had great advantage by 
the Crusades ; and that, estimating the 
expence of a Journey to Palestine in a 
Nobleman, it amounted to an enormous 
sum in modern money. King Ed- 
ward I. devised 30,000/. for 140 Knights 
to go to the Holy Land, d i. e. about 
214/. each. These expences, with re- 
spect to Crusading Pilgrims, were in- 



dispensable, for they had horses, arms, 
and various necessaries to purchased 

The Privileges of Crusaders were, to 
be released from any obligation to pay 
their debts, until they returned, or for 
a certain number of years; and they 
were exempted from paying interest of 
money owing during that time. They 
were to be free from tallages, unless of 
a particular kind (reales). They had 
liberty to mortgage their lands without 
license of the Lord. Their goods and 
persons were under the protection of 
the Pope and Bishops. Their causes 
were tried in the Ecclesiastical Courts. 
But all these privileges ceased in cri- 
minal cases ; indeed they were of no 
use, for as nobody would let them 
have money under such privileges, they 
were obliged to renounce them. f 

It seems that the susception of the 
Cross induced an obligation to observe 
strictness of conduct. Richard the 
First, because he had taken up arms 
against his father after he had taken 
the Cross, was absolved by the Arch- 
bishops of Roan and Treves before he 
set out.g 

When they had taken the Cross, 
they learned a particular song, called 
Ultreia, by singing which they ani- 
mated themselves upon their journey. 11 
It was also usual for them to insult 
and persecute Jews, whenever they 
met them. 

The King of France engaged with 
Richard the First not to attack his 
People or States, as long as Richard 
continued in Pilgrimage, nor after his 
return, before the expiration of forty 
days. 1 So that Sovereigns secured 



Angl. Sacr. i. 
M. Paris, 470. 



13. b Id. ii. 601. 

d War ton's Poetry, i. 110. 



e M. Paris, 671. 

e Triveti Annales, 94. 

h Du Cange. 

1 Triveti Annales, 108. 



f Du Cange, v. Crux. 



PREPARATORY STEPS TO THE JOURNEY. 



329 



their States before they undertook this 
hazardous expedition. 

Three years the term limited to pil- 
grimage of Richard I. a 

An oeconomy at home, correspon- 
dent to the expense, was dictated. In 
the year 1188, at a Council at Geytin- 
ton, where Baldwin, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, presided, and took the 
cross with many others, it was enacted 
concerning the People of England, that 
no one should use scarlet cloth, sable 

a Angl. Sacr. ii. 385. 



or vair furs, or vestes laqueati (laced), 
or more than two dishes at dinner, 
because the King and all the great 
men of the Kingdom were going to the 
Holy Land at great cost. b 

After taking farewell of their friends 
and making their wills, the Pilgrims (at 
least for the Crusades) met together at 
one place to fix a day for their de- 
parture. 



b Decern Scriptores, 1149. 

c M. Paris, 671. Du Cange, v. Manaia. 



330 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON SHIPBOARD, 



CHAPTER V. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON SHIPBOARD, 



Some of the English Pilgrims, des- 
tined for Jerusalem, went by way of 
Sicily, the greater part from Marseilles . a 

In a Synod held under King Pepin, 
it is enacted as follows, " In like man- 
ner we appoint, that when Pilgrims go 
to Rome or elsewhere, on account of 
God, that they be not detained at 
bridges, or excluded (for toll), or in 
voyages, on account of their scrippa ;" 
a term by change of a letter probably 
put for scirppa, which were baskets 
made of rushes, used by travellers to 
hold their baggage , b 

In the eighth century, the profession 
of Christianity appears to have been 
grossly abused by the English mer- 
chants, who carried on a singular kind 
of smuggling trade, in foreign countries. 
In order to elude the payment of duties 
abroad, they put on the habit of pil- 
grims, and pretended that they were 
travelling to Rome, or some other 
place, for religious purposes. The bales, 
which they carried with them, they 
insisted, contained only provisions for 
their journey, and were exempt from 
paying any duty. But the collectors 
of the customs, a suspicious kind of 
men in all ages, often searched the 
parcels of those pretended pilgrims, 
and either seized them, or imposed a 
heavy fine on the owners of them. c 

In other enactments it is said, " for 
any other Pilgrims, having a place 
from the mast, i. e. the midship, to 
the forecastle, with their provisions 
and armour, they shall pay a mark." d 
These were inferior Pilgrims, who had 
no cabin, and carried their own pro- 



visions. 



A Capitulum Metense, cap. 6, in the 
year 757, orders, that no claim shall 



* M. Paris, 475. b Du Cange, v. Scrippum. 
c Thomson's Ocellum Promontorium, p. 34. 
d Du Cange, v. Habuisia. 



be made from Pilgrims for their scrips. e 
This imposition on account of their 
baggage and provisions was rendered 
quite nugatory by the truly ascetical 
Pilgrims ; for Godrick of Finchale, the 
celebrated Hermit, on the whole of 
the journey, ate only barley-bread and 
drank water; never washed or changed, 
or mended his clothes. f 

It therefore appears, that, upon this 
plan, a pilgrimage to Rome or Jeru- 
salem was not an absurd undertaking 
for the wife of a weaver (as Chaucer 
says), on account of the assistances 
which they received by land,s soon to 
be mentioned. 

By some Statutes of Marseilles, no 
master of a ship was to have more 
than four Pilgrims for his own fvianda) 
profit or freight ; except from charity. 
He was also compelled to take an oath, 
that he would keep good faith with the 
Pilgrims, perform his engagement, buy 
good victuals for them, 11 and have no 
contracts with the masters or part- 
owners of other ships, relating to the 
cargoes or provisions of Pilgrims. 1 

The manner of embarkation was 
curious. The ports of the vessel were 
opened to allow entrance for the horses, 
which they intended to carry with 
them. When they were all on board, 
the port was caulked and stopped up, 
as close as a large tun of wine, because 
when the vessel was at sea, it was un- 
der water. k The horses were soon 
landed again; for Froissart says, no 
horses were to be embarked, because 
the voyage from England to Lisbon 



e Du Cange, v. Scrippum. 
f M. Paris, 99. 
* Hawkins's Musick, ii. 109. He did not kno w 
their resources. 

h An abuse alluded to in Chapter IV. 

1 Du Cange, v. Cargator. 

k Joinville, i. 118. Ed. Johnes. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS (^ST SHIPBOARD, 



131 



was too far. a Horses were sometimes 
conveyed upon deck. b 

When the Priests and Clerks em- 
barked, the Captain made them mount 
to the castle (round-top) of the ship, 
and chaunt psalms in praise of God, 
that he might be pleased to send them 
a prosperous voyage. They all with a 
loud voice sang the beautiful hymn of 
Veni Creator, from the beginning to 
the end, and while they were singing, 
the mariners set their sails in the name 
of God, c [singing " Salve Regina/' d ] 
which was the Celeusma of the Middle 
Age. A Priest having said, that God 
and his mother would deliver them 
from all danger if processions were 
made three times on a Saturday, a pro- 
cession round the mast was accordingly 
begun on that day. e 

The Host was carried by the pious, 
and a tent in a fit place erected over it 
of silk and gold. f 

In hard gales, the bulkheads or par- 
titions of cabins were removed, and 
vows made to St. Nicholas of a silver 
ship, if they escaped the storm. s 

The Galleys of the rich Crusaders 
were painted within and without with 
escutcheons of their arms ; and some 
galleys had full 300 sailors on board, 
each bearing a target of their Lord's 
arms, and upon each target was a small 
flag with his arms likewise, of beaten 
gold. h In the Norman ship in the 
celebrated Bayeux Tapestry, the crew 
are ranged along the sides, with each 
a shield, as in the preceding descrip- 
tion. 1 

Proper attention was paid to the 
Compass, which was contained in a 
Binnacle, for the advantage of light in 



a V. 330. b Du Cange, v. Boudron. 

c Joinville, i. 119. 

d Erasnri Naufragium inter Colloquia, p. 203, 
et alibi. e Joinville. 

f Joinville, i. 262. This was only an especial 
privilege allowed to S. Louis ; it not being per- 
mitted to other Pilgrims. Du Cange, v. Eucharistia 
in navibus. 

b Joinville, i. 227. All this is admirably detailed 
in irony by Erasmus in his dialogue de Naufragio. 
Colloquia, 201. h Joinville, 125. 

1 Engraved in Maillot, Costumes, iii. pi. xxi. 
Froissart is copious on the gorgeousness, &c. of 
ancient ships and private barge?. 



the evening, as now. Hugh de Berry 
says, (in the thirteenth century) the 
sailors in the dark nights, to avoid 
losing their route, lighted a candle, to 
observe the needle every now and 
then. k 

Men and their wives had the usual 
accommodation of the moderns, for 
they could have separate small cabins 
to themselves. 1 

Provisions were not matters of se- 
rious difficulty, for Bacon and Corn 
were the chief, almost the only stores 
laid in, in provisioning Danish and 
Norman ships ; m and William Brito 
mentions biscuit and wine. n 

The regulations of Richard the First 
for the conduct of his subject pilgrims, 
show the rude punishments of the age, 
always certain tests of barbarism, if 
every other information was wanting. 

" Richard by the Grace of God, &c. 
to all his men about to go to Jeru- 
salem by sea, Greeting. Know ye, 
that we by the common counsel of 
our honest men, have made the follow- 
ing regulations : 

" I. If any man kills another in the 
ship, he shall be fastened to the corpse, 
and thrown into the sea. 

ce II. If he commits murder on the 
land, he shall be bound to the dead 
man, and buried with him. 

" III. If any one shall have been con- 
victed by lawful witnesses of having 
drawn his knife to strike another, or 
shall have actually done so to the effu- 
sion of blood, he shall lose his hand ; 
but he, who shall have struck another 
with the palm of his hand without 
shedding blood, shall be three times 
ducked in the sea. 

" IV. If any one shall abuse, insult, 
or privately slander his fellow, he shall 
pay an ounce of silver for every offence. 

" V. A robber, convicted of theft, 
shall be shaved in the manner of a 
champion ; and boiling pitch poured 
upon his head, and the feathers of apil- 



k Joinville, i. 348. 

1 Boccaccio, Decameron, Day ii. Nov. vii. 
111 Gemetic. c. iv. inter Camd. Script, p. 611. 
u Philipp. L. 4. Du Cange, v. Paaxs, 



332 



MANNERS AND, CUSTOMS ON SHIPBOARD. 



low shaken over his head to distinguish 
him ; and be landed at the first Port 
where the ships shall stop. a 



a Hoveden, sub anno 1189. This passage shows 
the antiquity of Tarring and Feathering, used by 
the Anglo-Americans : who apply it to the whole 
body ; but this is also not new. ' ' The Bishop of 
Halverstadt having taken a place, where there were 
two monasteries of Nuns and Friers, caused divers 
featherbeds to be ript, and all the feathers to be 



" For the execution of these statutes^ 
Justices were appointed by the King 
over every ship. 5 ' 



thrown in a great hall, whither the Nuns and 
Friers were thrust naked, with their bodies oiled 
and pitched, and to tumble among these feathers.'' 
Howell's Letters, 135. One of the Masquerade 
Characters in Strutt's Dresses has evidently the 
aspect of one of these disguises ; though it was only 
an assumed cover, for the mask resembles a Hawk. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON THE JOURNEY BY LAND. 



333 



CHAPTER VI. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON THE JOURNEY BY LAND. 



This journey was often attended with 
considerable difficulties, in foreign coun- 
tries. 

Canute, on his return from a pil- 
grimage to Rome, bought a free passage 
for pilgrims in many places at a great 
expence. a The Jerusalem Pilgrimage 
called Via Dei and Via Sanctorum, 
appears by an old charter to have ex- 
empted the Pilgrims from paying cus- 
tomary tolls. b The constitutions of 
Pepin, in the preceding chapter, men- 
tion the detention of them at bridges 
and roads, for want of money to pay 
the numerous tolls, usual in those 
ages; and amounting to a large sum 
in journeys of so many miles. Cer- 
vantes mentions pilgrims on foot, who 
had a design to embark for Italy in 
order to go to Rome, and had yet 
among them only 60 rials. Being over- 
taken by Banditti, the Captain of the 
latter (a genteel Robin Hood) not only 
restored their money to the pilgrims, 
but added more to it. d Facilitation of 
their progress was therefore a leading 
concern of Kings and benevolent No- 
blemen. The former expedited their 
passage by munificent assistance in 
some instances. 6 Among the reforms 
in the police of Italy, effected by 
Rienzi, in 1347, one mentioned is, that 
pilgrims went and came without dan- 
ger/ And John Mansel obtained for 
the pilgrims, going to St. James of 
Compostella, that they should choose 
their lodgings at pleasure in the cities 
under the dominion of the King of 
Spain, and have liberty of purchasing 



a XV Scriptores, 275. 

b Du Cange, v. Via Sanctorum. 

c Cirrha (about 585 B. C.) by its extortions and 
oppression of Pilgrims, deserved the wrath of the 
Amphictyonic confederacy, and was therefore de- 
stroyed. Muller's Dorians. Thus ancient was 
the plunder of Pilgrims. 

d Don Quixote, P. ii. B. iv. c. 8. 

e M.Paris, 475. f Mem. dePetrarque, ii. 332. 



their own provisions without asking 
permission of their landlords.^ They 
travelled in companies ; and in the 
legend of S. James, it is said u Thirty 
men of Loreyne wente togyder on Pyl- 
grymage to Saynte James, and all 
made fayth to other yt every man 
shold abide and serve other in all 
estates yt shall happen by the waye/' h 
They had horses, and other matters, 
suited to their respective circumstances ; 
and except the dress^ or particular case 
of Vows, with no variation from the 
usages of common journeys, 1 unless in 
customs detailed in Chapter XII. 
Their persons were secure from rob- 
bery by one of those wonderful in- 
fluences of superstition, which are not 
uncommon in ignorant minds in a bar- 
barous, though not a refined age. 
" Richard Lynsted cam this day from 
Paston, and letyt me wete, that on 
Saturday last past Dravayle, halfe 
brother to Waryn Harman, was taken 
wt enemys walkyn by the Se side, and 
have hym forthe with hem, and they 
token ii pylgrimys, a man and a woman, 
and they robbyd the woman and let 
her gon ; and ledde the man to the 
See, and whan they knew he was a 
pylgreme, they geffe hym money, and 
sette hym ageyn on the Lond." k A 
similar instance of respect has been 
before mentioned. 1 If however, coming 
from an enemy's country, they claimed 
this protection in the country of that 
enemy, they were, at least sometimes, 
made prisoners.™ They were, notwith- 
standing, much robbed at inns. The 
Legend of S. James abounds with in- 
stances. Among these, it says, " There 



e M. Paris, 751. 

h Golden Legend, f. cxviii. 

* Angl. Sacr. ii. 594. 

k Paston Letters, iii. 304. 

1 Chap. T. It has exceptions, see further on. 

m Anglia Sacra, ii. 594. 



334 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON THE JOURNEY BY LAND. 



was a Frensche man, about the yere of 
our Lorde a M. and a C. wolde eschewe 
the mortalyte, that in Fraunce, (sic) 
and wolde visyte Saynte James, and he 
tok his wyf and children and went 
thyder : and whan they came to Pam- 
pelone, hys wyff deyde and hys hoost 
take fro hym all hys money and hys 
Jument, upon whych is children were 
borne." a — The statutes for the Cru- 
saders enacted, that they should take 
no women with them in their pil- 
grimage, except a laundress on foot, of 
whom there could be no suspicion ; b 
an exception founded upon their known 
character, as the harlots of the middle 
age. c But these were not the only 
female companions, notwithstanding 
the statute; in instances, however, 
where the transgression implied no 
breach of propriety. When Godric of 
Finchale set out for Rome, his mother 
desiring to become his companion, he 
consented, and, being a foot pilgrim, 
he carried her on his shoulders, d where 
the roughness of the road required it. 
At London they picked up another 
woman of great beauty, but totally 
unknown to them, and insuperably re- 
served in concealing herself. She ac- 
companied them the whole journey, 
washed and kissed their feet, and was 
singularly obsequious. When they re- 
turned, she suddenly disappeared, and 
though probably some noble Magdalen, 
crossed in love, who had imposed upon 
herself this voluntary penance, was, 
through her secrecy and imperceptible 
departure, converted into the Virgin 



a Golden Legend, fol. cxviii. 

» Guil. Neubrigens. L. iii. c. 22. p. 291. Ed. 
Antw. 1567. r . , . „ 

c Meretricem et Lotricem. Knighton, in X 
Scrip. 2422. In the 17th century the city laun- 
dresses used to treat young men with saffron [cakes 
I presume] and eggs, in order to lure them. 
Peacham's Complete Gentleman, 31. It was a 
Franch fashion, and they swarmed about inns. 
Erasmi Diversoria, Colloq. p. 211. 

d A common custom with respect to infirm wo- 
men. M. Paris, 347. " What gave me the 
greatest concern, was to see Zorayda travelling on 
foot among the flinty rocks, for though I sometimes 
took her on my shoulders, she was much more 
fatigued with seeing me weary, than refreshed by 
finding herself exempted from walking." Don 
Quixote, ii. 187. 



Mary, who had shown the Hermit this 
mark of respect. 

Some Pilgrims declined any female 
attendance. Gilbert Beket, father of 
the celebrated Archbishop Thomas, 
when a young man, took the Jerusalem 
cross, but would have no other com- 
panion than a servant named Richard/ 

Female Pilgrims often suffered much 
on the journey. a Thre knyghtes of 
the diocese of Lyon went to Saynt 
James ; and one was requyred of a pore 
woman, for the love of Saynt James, 
to bere her sacke upon hys hors ; and 
he bare it; after he founde a man 
seke, and set hym on hys hors, and 
toke the burdon of the man, and the 
sacke of the said woman, and followed 
hys hors afote."s 

The poorer Pilgrims provided for 
themselves by mendicity and the aid 
of charitable institutions. 

It was sometimes a part of the Papal 
absolution of those who had vowed a 
Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but were too 
poor or old to undertake the journey, 
that they should give money to those 
who did go, and pecuniary aid for the 
repair of a Church. 11 Monasteries 
received them courteously,! and gave 
them for three days lodging and diet, 
without question whence they came. k 
Such hospitals were regularly endowed 
with tythes. 1 

In the legend of St. John the Almo- 
ner, it is said, " There was a poure 
man in the habyte of a Pilgrim came 
too Saynte Johan, and demaunded al- 
messe ; and he called his dyspenser 
and badde to gyve that poure man vi 
pens." m In the Romance of the Re- 
nard Contrefait n (so called because an 
imitation of the others), written by an 
anonymous inhabitant of Tholouse, 
between the years 1328 and 1342, is 
the character of these Mendicant Pil- 



e M. Paris, 98. f Decern Scriptores, 1052. 

e Golden Legend, fol. cxix. 

h Angl. Sacr. ii. 495. 

1 Reyner Apostolatus Benedictinorum, p. 224. 

k Gough's Brit. Topography, ii. 462. 

1 Du Cange, v. Nona. 

m Golden Legend, f. 55. 

a MS. dans la Bibliotheque Nationale ;i Paris. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON THE JOURNEY BY LAND. 335 



grimages. The Confessor announces 
to Renard his Penitent, that he is not 
able to give him absolution, and that 
he must go to Rome to demand it of 
the Pope. The Convert submits, takes 
the scarf and bourdon? and commences 
his journey. Our Pilgrim, on his 
road, meets the ass, and Belin, the 
sheep, who stop and converse with 
him. This conversation leads on both 
sides to long discourses, intermixed 
with historiettes, among which is that 
of Count Renard de S. Marcel who 
was a robber on the high road, and 
who, one day that he saw a carter 
stuck fast in the mud, advanced in 
charity to assist him, was killed by 
him, and ascended to Heaven directly. 
His two acquaintance asked Renard. 
whv, instead of going to beg upon the 
road to Rome, he did not pursue an ho- 
nest trade, in which, after all, he could 
ensure his salvation, as well as by the 
vagrant life which he was going to 
adopt. He answers the question by 
a satire upon the different professions 
and trades, exposes their several 
rogueries, and concludes, by observing, 
that it is not so bad a trade as thiev- 
ing. After this he renounces his de- 
votion, and returns home. b This cha- 
racter of Pilgrims was assumed by the 
Gipsies. On April ljth, 1427, there 
came to Paris twelve Penitents, one 
Duke, one Earl, ten knights, and one 
hundred and twenty men and women 
with a number of infants. They said, 
that they were Christians, expelled 
from Egypt by the Saracens, who came 
to the Pope for confession, and were 
ordered to wander seven years, nor 
during that time to rest in a bed. Thev 
had many followers, till the Bishop 
compelled them to change their ha- 
bitation, for theft, and fortune- telling, 
and other offences. In 1560 they were 
expelled from Gaul, and soon after, in 
1591, banished Spain. 

a Of these in the Chapter of Costumes. 

b Notices, v. 345, 346. 

c Du Cange, v. JEgyptiaci. This account cor- 
responds with that given in the Antiquarian Re- 
pertory, i. 56. as the most probable origin of these 
vagrants. 



This assumption of the character of 
Pilgrims by the Gipsies was not mal 
apropos. Erasmus mentions a man, 
who supported himself and two ser- 
vants, on his journey to Jerusalem, by 
chiromancy and fortune-telling ; d and 
when he got there, he quartered him- 
self upon a very rich Pilgrim, who, 
though JO years old, could not die in 
peace till he had been to the Holy 
Land. It was a rule to extend bene- 
factions to Pilgrims, whatever might 
be their rank. Eadmer says of Lan- 
franc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
"What Pilgrim of whatsoever order of 
men, ever asked relief from him, and did 
not obtain it?'* e Anselm being in 
doubt what he should do with the pro- 
perty which devolved to him by the 
death of his father, revolved in his 
mind, among other things, whether he 
should not build a house for the recep- 
tion of Pilgrim s. f St. Roche, the Pa- 
tron Saint of Pilgrims, used in part of 
his duties, to visit hospitals ; " but 
when he had been long in hospitall of 
Placence, and had almost heled the 
seke men therin, about mydnight he 
herd in his slepe an angel thus sayeng, 
O Roche most devout to Crist, awake, 
and know yt thou art smitten with the 
pestilence, studye now how thou mayst 
be cured. And anone he felte himself 
sore taken with the pestylence under 
both his armes, and he therof gaaf 
thankinges to our Lord, and he was so 
sore vexed with ye payne, that they yt 
were in thospital were deprived of theyr 
slepe and rest of the night ; wherefore 
Saynt Roche arose fro his bedde, and 
went to the utterest place of tho spit all, 
and lavd hvm downe there abyding the 

. J Jo 

light of the day. And whan it was 
daye the people goinge by sawe him, ac- 
cused the mayster of the hospytall of 
offence yt he suffred the Pylgrime to lye 
without ye hospytall, but he purged hym 



d Colloquium Senile, p. 265. 
e Hist. Novor. p. 8. 

f Angl. Sacr. ii. 156. The Hospital of Ledbury 
in Herefordshire was founded for the relief of Pil- 
grims and poor men. Dugdale's Monast. ii. 453. 
Kings invited them to refreshment. X Script. 
2322. 



336 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS ON THE JOURNEY BY LAND. 



of the defaute sayenge yt the Pylgrime 
wae smyten with the pestilence, as ye 
see and unwittynge to us he went out. 
Thenne the Cytezens incontynent put 
out Saynt Roche fro the cyte and su- 
burbes, leest by him the cytee myght be 
the more infected."* Thus it appears, 
that the obligation to lodge Pilgrims 
was imperious, except in cases of con- 
tagious disease. 

This is the more natural, if it be 
considered, that whatever might be the 
abuse of Mendicant Pilgrimage, it was 
deemed meritorious. Saint Roche, 
from the text " In the sweat of thy 
brow,' 5 &c. persuaded Gotarde to leave 
all his goods to his heirs, to follow the 
way of Christ, which he makes to con- 
sist in begging " brede and almesse," 
and " in the name of Jhesu." b It was 
was even done by men of very estima- 
ble character and habits, who often 
found asylums in the houses of the 
great. " I was a poor Pilgrim/' says 
one of these, ee when I came to your 
court ; I have lived honestly and repu- 
tably in it, on the wages you have 
given me ; restore to me my mule, my 
wallet, and my staff, and I will return 
in the same manner as I came/ 5 c 

This was not the only attention paid 
to Pilgrims on their route. Trees were 
planted at crosses, and other accom- 



Golden Legend, fol. cxliiii. b Ibid. 

History of the Troubadours, p. 300. 



modations placed there, for shade, and 
rest to them. d 

In their migrations they were the 
great instruments of conveying news. 
A woman on her return from a Pil- 
grimage to our Lady of Boulogne, 
being weary, seated herself in the mar- 
ket-place, where there were crowds of 
people, who asked her for news. e — Sir 
John Paston says, " I kan not her by 
Pylgrimys yt passe the kontre, nor 
noon other man.' 5 f 

The Pilgrims, on their journeys, 
used to amuse themselves by narrating 
tales, s 

The Jerusalem Pilgrims of the richer 
sort took tents with them. Baldwin 
Archbishop of Canterbury, ordered 
those which he intended to take with 
him, to be elevated in Lambeth field. 11 
Kings and great men took letters of 
safe conduct ; * and the destruction of 
the places where they were in the ha- 
bit of plundering Pilgrims, was the 
punishment inflicted. k 

Many of the Pilgrims to Jerusalem 
were detained at Marseilles, for want 
of vessels to convey them, till their 
money was spent. 1 



d Du Cange, v. dlbellus. 

e Froissart, v. 103. 

f Paston Letters, ii. 76. 

g Warton's Poetry, i. 397. 

h X Scriptores, 1564. * X Scriptores, 1126. 

k Ibid. 1118. I Ibid. 1173. 



CRUSADERS. 



337 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE ARRIVAL AT JERUSALEM. CONSEQUENCES OF THE CRUSADES. 

MISCELLANEOUS OF CRUSADERS. 



It is not the intention of this essay 
to detail historical matters, or be nar- 
ratory ; as possessing no novelty, and 
much tediousness. — The bells were 
rung when the Pilgrims appeared off 
the port, where they were to land. a 

The Pilgrims, not engaged in the 
military department of the Croisades, 
visited the Holy Sepulchre, and other 
religious places. Godric of Finchale, 
after doing this, proceeding to the 
River Jordan with the hair shirt, and 
cup, which he carried in his scrip, en- 
tered the waters of that river [in imi- 
tation of Naaman, the Syrian]. Then 
for the first time after leaving England 
he stripped and washed himself: pull- 
ed off his shoes, and said, " God Om- 
nipotent, who hast walked barefooted 
in this land, and suffered your feet to 
be pierced with nails on my account, 
henceforth, I will not put shoes on my 
feet." Having thus performed his 
vow of Pilgrimage, he returned to 
England. 13 

They delighted to pick up relicks 
during their Peregrinations. Balsam 
was sold at Jerusalem/ images, and no 
doubt many other articles. 

Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, and 
William his Archdeacon, for the sake of 
exercising the flesh, and fixing in their 
memories the Incarnation, Passion, 
and Ascension of Christ, made a visit 
to the Holy Land. e Erasmus, however, 
says, that the Pilgrims saw nothing 
but ancient monuments, to which only 
legendary accounts were attached, and 
that even the precise situation of an- 
cient Jerusalem was not certainly known 
by the residents there. The Pilgrims, 



a Neubrigensis, 276. More will appear in Tor- 
kington's Journal following. 

b M. Paris, p. 99. c Eadm. 88. 

d Du Cange, v. Munerba. 
e Angl. Sacr. ii. 274. 



he adds, abounded with marvellous 
tales, and false stories of what they 
had seen and heard/ but returned with 
injured health. 

There is preserved an account of a 
Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, made by a 
Sir Richard Torkington in 1517, of 
which the following extracts were pub- 
lished by Mr. Wheeler, from the iden- 
tical MS. Diary.s 

" Thys ys the begynnyng of the pyl- 
grymage of Syr Rychard Torkyngton, 
person of Mulberton in Norffblke. 
And how he went towardys Iherusa- 
lem all a lone to the tyme he came to 
Venesse.^ 

" ffyrst the ffryday a for Mydlent 
that was Seynt Cuthberdys day And 
the xx day of Marche in the vij yer of 
kyng herri the viij. th And the yer of 
ower lorde god M.CCCCCxvij. abowte 
viij of the cloke the same mornyng I 
shippyd at Rye in Sussex. And the 
same day a bowte x. of the cloke at 
nyght I londed at Depe. in Normandy. 
And ther I lay in the Shippe all 
nyght," &c. &c. 

" At Cambray I hard a ffamus Ser- 
mon of a Doctor which began at v. of 
the cloke in the mornyng and conty- 
nuyd tyll it was ix of the clok. In hys 
s'mon at on time he had a balys [rod] 
in hys bond a nother tyme a schorge 
the hj. de tyme a crowne of thorne the 
iiij. tu tyme he shewyd the pepyll a 
pictur poyntyd on a clothe of the pas- 
sion of o. r lorde. And aft. that he 
shewyd them the ymage of god crucy- 
fyed upon a crosse and thanne all the 
peple bothe yong and old they fell 
downe upon ther knes and cryed with 
lamentable voce om'a the p'cher the 
peple they weppe marvell it was to see. 



f Colloq. § De Votis, &c. p. 22. 

s Gentleman's Magazine, Octob. 1812. 



338 



CRUSADERS. 



" We com [29. April] to the goodly 
and ffamose Cite of Venys. Ther I 
was well at ese, ffor ther was no thyng 
that I desired to have but I had it 
shortly. At Venyse at the fyrst howse 
that I cam to except oon the good man 
of the howse seyd he knew me by my 
face that T was an englysshman. And 
he spake to me good englyssh thanne 
I was jous and glade, ffor I saw nev'. 
englyssh man ffrom the tyme I dep'ted 
owt of Parys to the tyme I cam to 
Venys. which ys vij or viij C. nayles." 

u In Candia sive Creta was musyke 
fyrste founde And also Tourneys and 
exercyse of Armys fyrst founde on 
horse bake. Ther was lawe fyrst put 
in wrytyng. Armour was fyrst ther 
divisyd and founde. And so was remys 
and rowyng in bootts. 

" Satirday the xj day of July a bowyt 
iiij of the cloke at aftyr noon we had 
sight of the holy londe. Thanne the 
Maryners song the letany And aftyr 
that all the pylgryms w.* a joyffull voyce 
song Te Deum laudamus. and thankyd 
all myghty god that he had yoven us 
such grace to have onys the sight of 
the most holy lande." 

" At Jaffe begynnyth the holy londe 
and to ev.y pylgryme at the fTyrst foote 
that he sett on the londe ther ys 
grauntyd plenary remission De pena et 
a culpa. In Jaff Seynt Petir reysid 
ffrom Deth Tabitam. the sarvaunt of 
the Appostolis. And fast by ys the 
place where Seynt Petir usyd to ffysh 
And o r . Savior Crist callyd hym and 
seyd sequere me. 

" At Rama we war receyvyd into 
Duke Philipps hospitall And it ys 
callyd so by cause Duke Philippe of 
Burgone byldyd it of hys grett Cha- 
rite to Receye Pylgryms therin. We 
found no thyng ther in but bar walles 
and bar norethes excepte oonly a well 
of good ffresh watir whiche was myche 
to o. r comforth. Nev'theles ther com 
to us Jacobyns and other feynyd 
Cristen peple of Soundry Sectis that 
browght to us mattes ffor o. r mony to 
lye upon And also brede sodyng egges 
and sumtyme other vetallyes as mylke 
grapys and appyllys." 



u Satirday [18. July] a bowyt yj or 
vij of the cloke at aftyr noon we cam 
to Iherusalem and were receyvyd in to 
the Mounte Syon. 

" Whanne Masse was don [Sunday 
19. July] we went all to Dyn'. in the 
place wher we war ryghg honestely 
sVyed. And at medys of the dyner 
the ffather wardyn made a right holy 
sermon and shewyd ryght devowtly 
the holynesse of all the blyssyd choseyn 
place of the holy londe And exortyd 
ev'y. man to confession and repent- 
aunce. And so to visite the seyd holy 
placis in clennes of lyff. And w*. 
shuch Devocion as all myghty god 
wold yeff unto them of hys most spe- 
ciall grace." 

£i At the Mounte of Olivete we came 
to the place under an holow Roke wher 
o. r savyor preying fell in suche an 
agony that he swete watir and blode. 
That the droppes fell in grett plenty 
from hys eyne to the erthe seying, 
Pater si possibile est ut transeat a me 
calix iste ; verumtamen no\ sicut ego 
volo, s\ sicut tu vis.ffiat voluntas tua. 
Clene remission." 

" Ffrom thens descendyng a stonys 
cast we came to the place wher o r . Sa- 
vyor Crist left Petir Jamis & John. 
Sedete hie donee vadam illuc et or em 
vigilate et orate. Also wher the Pos- 
tyllys made the Crede of ower feyth. 
Also wher ower Savyor Crist taught 
hys Discipulis to pray seying Cum orat\ 
ita dicite, Pater noster." 

" The stonys of that place wher 
ower lady was born ys remedi and 
consolation to women that travell of 
Chylde." 

" We went to the howse of Dives a 
Epidonis, qui sepultus est in Inferno" 

ee We cam to the howse of Veronica 
wher as o r . blyssid Savyor impressyd 
the ymage of hys fface in hyr wymple 
whiche ys at Rome. And it ys callyd 
ther the Vernacle. 

" The Churche of the holy sepulcre 



a Whitby says, that the story of Dives and La-| 
zarus is only a parable taken from the Gemara Ba- 
bylonicum ; but Chateaubriand, from Chrysostom, 
makes it a real history. Trav. ii. 27. F. 



CRUSADERS. 



339 



ys rounde myche leke the form and 
makyng of the Temple at London saff 
it ys excedyng fer in gretnesse and 
hath wonder many yles Crodes and 
vowtes Chapellys high and lowe in 
grett nowmber and mervell it ys to see 
the many deferens and secrete places 
w l .in the sayd temple." 

" Under the Mounte of Clavery [Cal- 
vary] ys a nother Chapell of o. r blyssyd 
lady and Seynt John Ev'ngeliste that 
was callyd Galgatha and ther ryght 
under the morteys of the Crosse was 
founde the hede of o. r fore father 
Adam/' 

£l We cam to Bethelem it was callyd 
in old tyme Effrata wher of it ys 
wretyng Ecce audivimus eum in Ef- 
frata. And bytwyne Citie and the 
chirche ys the nod floridus where the 
fayer mayd shuld a ben brent and was 
savyd harmesse by myracle for the fyer 
chaunged into Rosis." 

i: At the Est ende of the Chirche of 
Bethlem ys a cave in the grounde wher 
sumtyme stod a Chirch of Seynt Ni- 
cholas. In the same cave entred ower 
blyssid lady w fc . hyr Sone. And hyd 
hyr for ffer of Kyng Herrod. the gronde 
ys good for Norces that lake mylk for 
ther Childern/' 

" The last day of July a bowyt v. of 
the cloke in the mornyng we made 
sayle to warde Cypres homward w*. 
ryght grett joy and solas/' 

" The xxv. day of August that was 
Seynt Bertilmews day the morne aftyr 
Seynt Bertilmew decessyd Roberd 
Crosse of London Pewterer and was 
buryed in the Chirche yard in Salyus 
[in the Island of Cyprus]. And xxvij 
day of August decessyd Syr Thomas 
Toppe a prest of the West countre. And 
was cast ov\ the borde As was many 
moo whos soules god assoyle. And 
thanne ther remayned in the shippe 
iiij Englyssh prestis moo." 

" Of o. r chere and well entretyng at 
the Rody [Rhodes] and what comfort 
was don to us and speciall that was 
seke and disesyd by Syr Thomas New- 
porte and Mayster William Weston 
and Syr John Bowthe and aftyrward 



by other Jentylmen of Englond ther 
it war to long to wrytte. 

" Sunday [3. January] the wynde 
began to ryse in the north And mun- 
day all day and all nyght it blew owt- 
rageously. Indured a wondred grett 
Tempest aswell be excedyng wondors 
blowyng of wynde as by contynuall 
lythynyng So that the capteyne and 
the patron And all the knyghtys of 
the Rode whyche war ther to the 
now mbyr of xiiij wended we shulde a 
be lost." 

" The same nyght a bowte x of the 
cloke we all p'mysyd pylgrymage to 
ower lady of grace of Missena in Ce- 
cylia. And ev^y man delyv'ed hys 
offeryng the same tyme to the patrone 
of the shippe. 

" Wedynsday the vj. day of Januarij 
the wynde rose a yens us w*. grett 
tempest thounderyng and lyghtnyng 
all day and all nyght So owt rageously 
that we knew not wher wee war. And 
thanne we putt us all in the mercy of 
god beyng in grett peyne and woo 
both day and nyght voowyng sum of 
us pylgrylmages to o. r blyssyd lady of 
Lorett\ in Ytalya and sum to o. r lady 
of Walsynglr'm. and sum to Seynt 
Thomas of Cannterbury we that war 
Englysshmen. The patrone of o. r 
shippe gaderd mony of us for to make 
o. r ofTerying to the iij kyngs of Colo- 
ney a And as sone as we cam on londe 
we shuld have messe in honor of 
them." 

" And in thys fforsayd long conty- 
nuall tempeste and storme we war 
drefTbakward iij. C. myle." 

" In the yle callyd Swafana in 
Turkey we a bode v. dayes and dyv'se 
knyghtes of the Rodes wont on lond 
w l . ther hande gonnes and slew horse 
for ther hawkes that war in the sheppe 
ther war in the shippe I. C. hawkes 
and moo." 

" Saturday a for the fyrst Sounday 



a The iii Magi, who worshipped the infant 
Christ, called in the legend Kings, and of Cologn, 
because their bodies were pretended to have been 
brought first to Milan, and from thence to Cologn, 
Golden Legend, fol. vi. — viii. F. 



Z 2 



340 



CRUSADERS, 



of clene lent the xx. day of ffebruary 
we went in to the Castell [of Corfu] a 
mong the Jewys it was ther Sabaday. 
The same day ther was a Jewe maryed 
and aftyr Dyner I saw them danse in 
a grett Chamber bothe men and wo- 
men in ryche apparell Damaske Saten 
velvett weryng a bowte their nekkys 
chenys of fyne gold w*. many rynggs 
on their ffyngers w*. stonys of grett 
pryce. She that was maryed she had 
upon hyr hede a crowne of gold. — On 
of the Jewys be gan to syng And than 
all the women dannsed to gedyr by the 
space of an owre. And aftyr that ther 
cam in yong men on of them sang 
Thanne the men and women danncyd 
to gedyr Aftyr that they callyd in ther 
mynstellys and so they danncyd iij 
long howrys. They be fayer women 
wonderfull werkes in sylke and gold and 
many goodly thyngs they have to sell, 
in thys cetye we a bode by the space of 
xiiij dayes." 

66 Munday that was the xvij day of 
Apryll we cam to Dover and lay ther 
all nyght." 

" Tewysday a for Whith Sounday 
we cam to Cannterbury to Seynt Tho- 
mas Messe and ther I offeryd and 
made an Ende of my Pylgrymage — 
Deo gratia." 

« We war owt of Englond in ower 
seyd pylgrymage the space of an holl 
yer v. wekys and iij dayes." 

As to the Military, they lived in the 
same habits as at home. Statutes 
were made for the regulation of them, 
of which the following is an abstract. 

I. All the Pilgrims who died on the 
road, had a power of disposing of their 
arms, horses, and cloaths, provided 
they sent nothing home : as to Clerks, 
they could dispose at will of religious 
furniture. 

II. Knights and Clerks were allow- 
ed to play for money, provided they 
did not lose more than 205. in 24 
hours. But all servants, except the 
King's, were to be punished by three 
day's beating through the army, and 
mariners were to be ducked once a day 
for three days, if they meddled with 
games. 



III. Money borrowed on the jour- 
ney, was to be paid during the journey, 
but not that borrowed before. 

IV. Runaway servants were not to 
be harboured, under penalty of excom- 
munication, &c. 

V. No merchant of any trade was to 
buy bread to sell again in the army, 
nor any foreigner to speculate in corn, 
unless he made bread of it, or detained 
it to carry with him ; nor was any one 
to buy dead meat to sell again, or a 
live beast, unless he killed it in the 
army. 

VI. The same regulation was made 
about regrating in wine. a 

Other regulations order the Cru- 
saders not to swear enormously; not 
to gamble at dice ; and to be content 
with two meals. b But their liberti- 
nism was so notorious, as in its conse- 
quences to be a leading cause of their 
final ill success. 

Joinville is a work of such easy 
access, that it is quite unnecessary to 
make large extracts. The knowledge 
of the useful arts was considerably 
augmented by this intercourse with 
the East. The following short notices 
betray the strangest inconsistencies. 
Friday's fast was diligently observed ;c 
and there were tents in the form of 
chapels, with the Annunciation of the 
Virgin Mary embroidered on the in- 
side ; d and yet brothels were kept 
even within a stone's throw of Saint 
Louis's pavilion, by his attendants. 6 

The name of our Richard I. was so 
terrible, that it was used by the Sara- 
cen women to frighten children/ 

LaBrocquiere mentions 30,000 Ama- 
zons, with bows and arrows and curi- 
ous quivers.? 

In Tacticks the present admirable 
method of defending infantry from ca- 
valry, was successfully practised. 11 

La Brocquiere says, that a dwarf and 

a Script, p. Bed. 384. 

b Neubrigensis, 1. 3. c. 22. p. 291. 

c Joinville, i. 167. d Id. 119. 

, e Id. 128. t Id. 274. 

8 P. 150. A woman with only one breast occurs 
on Indian Monuments. Gough's Indian Monu- 
ments at Salset, PI. v. p. 18. 

h Triveti Annates, 120, 



CRUSADERS, 



341 



two young persons acted the parts of 
fools with the Sultan ; and that the 
custom was introduced by the Cru- 
saders to the Christian Courts. a Now 
it has been said that our interesting 
acquaintance in infancy, Tom Thumb, 
was a dwarf in the Court of King Ar- 
thur, who only imitated Augustus in 
keeping a dwarf. b La Brocquiere may 
be correct, for they were mostly then 
brought from Syria and Egypt. 

All the pomp of the Gothick Ages 
was derived, by means of the Crusades, 
from the riches and magnificence of the 
Eastern Cities. Before this sera old 
Poetry consisted of the achievements 
of King Arthur and the Knights of the 
Round Table, and Charlemagne and his 
twelve peers ; but after these expedi- 
tions of the Soldans, Caliphs, Trebi- 
zond, and other cities. Whole legions 
of Poets embarked with the Military for 
the Crusades. d 

The Pisans, when the Crusades first 
took place, fitted out small vessels 
loaded with provisions, which they sold 
to the Crusaders, and brought back 
columns, sculptures, bas-reliefs, &c. 
from ancient Greece, as well as Greek 
artists ; and from hence commenced 
the revival of the Arts in Italy.e 

The Crusades gave birth to the ma- 
ritime powers, of which Venice, Genoa, 
and Pisa were the first; and occa- 
sioned the establishment in Europe of 
naval commerce, which, till then, had 
been in the hands of the Greeks and 
Arabs/ 

About the year 1060, when the Pa- 
gans obstructed the Journey, the Pil- 
grimage was still made by stealth.s 
But it being a misfortune which oc- 
curred from possession of the country 
by the Saracens, that the Pilgrims were 
enslaved when they came to the Holy 
Land, h Antioch, which was taken by 



a P. 254. b Sueton. C. xliii. in Augusto. 

c See figures of them in Kircher CEdip. iEgypt. 
ii. 522. and Count Caylus, Rec. d'Antiq. vi. pi. 
88. f. 1,2. * 

d Warton's Poetry, i. 110, 111. 

e Bromley's Arts, ii. 306, seq. 

f Observat. surl'Italie, torn. iii. 261, 

? Du Cange, v. Tapinatio. 

& See instances X Script. 1052. 



the Crusaders in 1098, was the most 
convenient place, Tyre not being then 
in the possession of the Christians, for 
Adventurers and Pilgrims to land at. 
When, however, they had debarked, 
they had 200 miles of a barbarous 
country to traverse before they could 
reach Jerusalem ; hence arose the ne- 
cessity of a constant guard to protect 
them, 1 and a subsistence when arrived 
at this new capital of the Christian Em- 
pire. 

These circumstances produced the 
only two religious Orders which were 
established in the Holy Land ; the first 
of which were the Knights Hospitalers 
in 1113, who undertook the accommo- 
dation of the Pilgrims at their Hospi- 
tium or Inn, during their stay in Jeru- 
salem. As many, however, were at- 
tacked by the Saracens in their journey 
from Antioch, the second Order, that 
of Templars, took place in 1183, who 
professed to escort the Pilgrims to their 
quarters with the Knights Hospitalers. k 

The fanaticism for making pilgrim- 
ages to the Holy Land has been sup- 
posed extreme ; and it is certain, that 
in 1199, John Bishop of Faenza went 
to the Holy Land with 200 of his Dio- 
cesans, no small number for the popu- 
lation of his town, 1 and it is also cer- 
tain, that even children engaged to 
take the cross. m Much art, however, 
was practised. At the approach of 
Christmas, when it was customary for 
great men to give new cloaths to their 
dependants, the French King, Standard- 
bearer of the Cross, [for that ensign 
always preceded their march], assumed 
to himself, in a new manner, the office 
of Preacher, and Procurator of the bu- 
siness of the Cross ; he ordered to be 



1 This protection was no doubt particularly ne- 
cessary with relation to our countrymen, of whom 
continental hatred thus expressed itself : " In my 
youth," says Petrarch (Fam. 1. 2J. Ep. 3.), " the 
inhabitants of Great Britain, whom they call En- 
glish, were the greatest cowards of all the barba- 
rians, inferior even to the vile Scotch." This is the 
only time a modern Italian perhaps ever talked of 
the cowardice of our countrymen. 

k Archseologia, ix. 128. These orders are how- 
ever charged in some French MSS. with becoming 
Banditti to rob the Pilgrims. 

J Notices, vi. 53. m M, Paris, 502. 



342 



CRUSADERS, 



got ready many more gowns than he 
used to have, with their appurtenances, 
of the most precious cloth, and different 
furs and crosses, made of fine goldsmith's 
ivork, to be served upon the shoulder 
parts of the gown, privately in the night. 
When therefore the courtiers attended 
Mass in the morning, they were asto- 
nished to find the Cross upon each 
other's shoulders ; but seeing the 
King's motive, were ashamed to re- 
move them. a This art was necessary. 
A father wisely excuses himself from 
undertaking a foreign pilgrimage, on 
account of leaving his wife and chil- 
dren to the care of others. b At the 
predication of the Crusade by Giraldus 
Cambrensis, Philip Mangonel, a knight, 
observed that no man, who professed 
integrity to his country, would take the 
Cross, upon his preaching, or the Arch- 
bishop's. Sovereigns vehemently op- 
posed these Jerusalem Pilgrimages, as 
robbing the country of effective men, 
and separating relatives of worldly ser- 
vice to each other. Indeed they openly 
called it (according to our modern lan- 
guage) crimping and kidnapping A 
When they did patronize them, it was 
for the reason assigned by Henry IV. 
in Shakespeare, who says, that to avoid 
being dethroned, I 

" — had a purpose now 
To lead out many to the Holy Land, 
Lest rest and lying still might make them look 
Too near into my state :" 

an idea which, by the way, was sug- 
gested from iElian,e and Justin, who 
relates the same of Dionysius the Ty- 
rant. 

An obligation to enter either of the 
military orders was substituted for the 
punishment of exile. William de Berke- 
ley, 56 Henry III. came before the 
King, then at the Tower of London, 
and promised to render himself into 
the religion of St. John of Jerusalem or 
of the Templars, before the 15 th Pasch. 
in that year, and to go towards Jerusa- 
lem, or to any other place out of the 



M. Paris, 604. b Du Cange, v. Inoletivus. 
Angl. Sacr. ii. 491 » d Id. 492. 

L. ix. c. 25. 



kingdom of England, as he should be 
directed by the brethren of that order, 
never afterwards to return into Eng- 
land, and thereof took his oath, and put 
in fourteen sureties to perform the 
same: which banishment was occa- 
sioned by his former insurrections/ 
This record is important, because it 
shows of what persons these Orders 
were chiefly composed, probably of 
desperate malcontents, and explains 
much of their history. 

Thomas Lord Berkeley, who died in 
1321, having made a vow to go to the 
Holy Land, his son Maurice gave £100 
to Sir John Veel to go in his stead, and 
thus absolve his father's vow.s These 
vows were also redeemed, especially in 
relation to old men, invalids, women, 
the infirm, and children, for money, 
through preaching of the Friars." The 
reason was, that, unless the papal ab- 
solution was obtained^ death was pre- 
sumed to result from non-performance 
of the vow. 1 The Pilgrims themselves, 
by their own weariness of the Crusades, 
no doubt discouraged the people. In 
1192, when King Richard had held a 
council concerning the Siege of Jerusa- 
lem, he was dissuaded, among other 
reasons, because it would require a 
strong garrison to keep it, and the 
people were very desirous of finishing 
their pilgrimage, and returning to their 
own country : some actually did so, 
even before the business was completed 
of delivering the Holy Land. k Pil- 
grimages to Jerusalem were turned to 
great advantage in some instances. 
About 1520, one Mabon, Dean of Jer- 
sey, made the journey, and after return 
contrived, by lengthening the East end 
of a Chapel, and excavating a place 
under the altar, to form a representa- 
tion of the Holy Sepulchre. He then 
" feigned visions and apparitions in 
this place," by which he got numerous 



f Hill, placit 56 Hen. III. rot. 18. Smythe's 
MSS. 

e Smythe's Berkeley MSS. 328. 

h M. Paris, 502. 

5 Erasm. IXGYO^AriA. Colloq. 412. 

k Trivet, i. 120, 123. 



CRUSADERS. 



343 



offerings to be made there ; and consi- 
derable profit to himself , a It is pro- 
bable, that the clerical pilgrims turned 
their tours to good account in various 
ways. 

Lastly, when the Christians began to 
grow lukewarm upon the subject of 
these Jerusalem expeditions, the Mos- 
lems took it up, and recommended a 
pilgrimage there to the Mosque Alarsa, 
as prayers said in that Mosque ob- 
tained expiation of sins, and other spi- 
ritual advantages. 11 It must, however, 
always be an interesting tour ; and the 
recent destruction by fire of the Church 



a Falle's Jersey, 271. Ed. Morant. 

b See an exhortation to souls, upon a pilgrimage 
to Jerusalem, by Bourhan Eddin Alkazaoni, MS. 
BibL Nation. Notices, iii.605. 



of the Holy Sepulchre is to be seriously 
regretted upon many accounts. 

Monks were not allowed to take the 
Cross. An Abbot, named Edmund, 
says Matthew Paris, to the derision of 
every body, in violation of his vows, 
and injury of the Order, attempted a 
most pernicious precedent, by taking 
the Cross to flatter the King. 

After the Soldan of Babylon had 
taken Acre in 1291, the Christians were 
entirely driven out of the Holy Land, 
and there was not a single place left 
where troops could land. 

Pilgrimages to the Holy Land, as a 
general fashion, ceased with us about 
the time of Henry V. 



P. 671, 696, 



344 



RETURN HOME.— PALMERS. 



CHAPTER VIII, 



RETURN HOME. PALMERS. 



Pilgrims returned from the Holy 
Land by whole ship-loads at a time, 
and were then called Pahniferi.*- When 
they began their journey, they went 
with scrip and staff; but after they had 
accomplished their pilgrimage,and when 
they were onthe point of returninghome, 
they cut off branches of palm-trees, 
which are common in Palestine, and 
brought them home. On their arrival 
they went to Church to thank God for 
the happy success of their Pilgrimage, 
and for the proof of the fulfilment of 
their vows, proffered the Palms to the 
Priests, who placed them upon the 
Altar. b Durand gives another reason. 
They who come from Jerusalem carry 
a palm in their hands, for a sign that 
they fought for the King, who was ho- 
nourably received in Jerusalem with 
palms, and afterwards there fought a 
victorious battle with the Devil. That 
the Jerusalem Pilgrims returned into 
their own countries with a palm, many 
writers attest, but they chiefly used the 
Palmajuncta. When they came home 
they were received with an ecclesiastick 
procession. 

Erasmus says, they who have been 
at Jerusalem are called Knights, style 
each other Brethren, and seriously 
practise a ridiculous ceremony on Palm 
Sunday, i. e. drag along a wooden ass 
with a rope. The Compostella Pil- 
grims imitated this. d I presume that 
the Host, or Crucifix, or figure of 
Christ, was placed upon the ass, e to 
complete the allusion to the Hosanna 
procession. 

Somner, in his Glossary to the De- 
cern Scriptores/ says, "That Pilgrim, 



a Du Cange, v. Palmifer. 

b Du Cange. Diss, sur Joinville, 15, p. 152. 

c Id. v. Palmarius. d De Colloq. Utilit. p. 653, 

c See Antiquitates Vulgares. 

{ Du Cange, v. Palmarius, 



whom our countrymen commonly call 
a Palmer, the name which they are ac- 
customed to take from staves s or 
branches of palm. But a Pilgrim and 
a Palmer, according to some, remark- 
ably differ in these respects : a Pilgrim 
has a fixed residence ; a Palmer none : 
a Pilgrim goes to a certain and prefixed 
place ; a Palmer to none in particular, 
but to all : a Pilgrim goes at his own 
expence ; a Palmer professes voluntary 
poverty : a Pilgrim can renounce his 
profession ; a Palmer never, unless he 
had first obtained the palm, i. e. con- 
quered his spiritual enemies by death." 
It is certain that a Palmer distinguished 
a Pilgrim to Jerusalem from another. 
Thus Giraldus Cambrensis : "Asseruit 
ipsos de Gisortii partibus esse et pal- 
miferos omnes, et Sepulchri Dominici 
peregrinos ; preeter Archidiaconum so- 
lum, quern de Roma venientem Papise 
primo repereunto/" n 

There is no reason to dispute the fact 
that there were persons who vowed 
perpetual (rather a long) pilgrimage and 
poverty, and ended their days in a 
hermitage ; and who also, having been 
to Jerusalem and returned, were thus 
Palmers ; but to say that they became 
Palmers from the first vow, is an erro- 
neous distinction. 1 Henry, Emperor of 
Germany, repenting that he had impri- 
soned his own Father and the Pope, left 
(as it is said) his kingdom in a Pilgrim's 
habit, and became a hermit at Chester, 
under the name of Godstall. k 

A Pilgrim and Palmer of the above 



% Of these Staves, see the Chapter of Costumes, 
p. 315. 

h Angl. Sacr. ii. 594. 

' Tyrwhitt (Gloss. Chaucer) defines Palmers by- 
Pilgrims to foreign parts. It is incorrect. The 
palm denoted Jerusalem Pilgrims. The Veronique, 
orVernicle, Pilgrims to Rome. The Escallops to 
Compostella, See Introduction, p. 317. 

k Angl. Sacr.i. 270, 271. 



RETURN HOME. — PALMERS. 



345 



description was also the famous Guy, 



Earl of Warwick 



, concerning whom 
Knighton, who lived 



m 



an age when 



these matters were quite common, uses 
the term Pilgrim and Palmer indiscri- 
minately. He had returned from the 
Holy Land, but before his hour of re- 
freshment, visited all the Churches 
of the City to pray ; and afterwards, 
when his peregrinations were ceased, 
came to Warwick, and lived there as a 
hermit, unknown to his wife, Felicia, 
to whom he did not discover himself 
till his death. a 

Of the journey and return of a less 
rigid Pilgrim we have the following ac- 
count. William de Mandeville, Earl 
of Essex, took the cross, and, after 
procuring suitable necessaries, took 
with him a retinue, and among them a 
chaplain to perform divine offices. For 
all these he kept a daily table, but be- 
fore he set out, went to Gilbert Bishop 
of London for his license and benedic- 
tion. These were of course granted, 
and he passed as far as Rome, over 
France, Burgundy, and the Alps, leav- 
ing his horses at Mantua. He visited 
every holy place at Jerusalem, and on 
his route ; made his prayers and offer- 
ings at each, and so returned. Upon 
his arrival he made presents of silk 
cloths to all the Churches of his See, 



Decern Scriptores, 2322. Leland, &c. 



for copes or coverings of the Altars. 
The Monks of Walden met him in pro- 
cession in albs and copes^ singing, 
" Blessed is he who cometh in the 
name of the Lord ;" and the Earl com- 
ing to the High Altar, and there pros- 
trating himself, the Prior gave him the 
benediction. After this he rose ; and 
kneeling, offered some precious relicks 
in an ivory box, which he had obtained 
in Jerusalem and elsewhere. This of- 
fering concluded, he rose and stood 
before the Altar, the Prior and Convent 
singing Te Deum. Leaving the Church, 
he went to the Chapter to give and re- 
ceive the kiss of peace from the Prior 
and Monks. A sumptuous entertain- 
ment followed for himself and his suite; 
and the succeeding days were passed in 
visits to relatives and friends, who con- 
gratulated him upon his safe return. b 

The Pilgrims upon their return from 
Jerusalem, used to present their 
Scrips and Bourdons to their Parish 
Churches. 

Coryatt says, that he saw cockle and 
muscle shells, and beads, and other re- 
ligious relicks, hung up over the door 
of a little chapel in a nunnery. d These 
were deposits and offerings made by 
Pilgrims to Compostella, when they re- 
turned and gave thanks. See Costumes, 
p. 317. 



b Dugd. Monast. i. 452, 453. 

c Du Cange, v. Spera. A Crudities, i. 18. 



346 



PILGRIMAGES OF PUNISHMENT AND PENANCE. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PILGRIMAGES OF PUNISHMENT AND PENANCE. 



Pilgrimages of punishment are or- 
dered in the Canons of Patrick, in 
Ware, and the laws of our Henry I. A 
Priest revealing a confession is to re- 
pent in disgrace, by a Pilgrimage for 
life : a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 
within two years is directed for the soul 
of a murdered person. Other Pilgrim- 
ages might be redeemed for money. a 

In 1284, John Archbishop of Canter- 
bury gave the Cross to one of the Ca- 
nons of Dunstable for his irregularities, 
and by the authority allowed to Cru- 
saders, absolved him from his bad be- 
haviour, provided, in his expedition, he 
could redeem himself, as far as he could 
get money from his own chamber or 
his friends, without hurting the Mo- 
nastery^ 

Some Monks having borrowed money 
from a certain Burgess, delivered him 
the curtains of the church in pawn. 
Afterwards, at the festival of the Holy 
Virgin, the Monks asked him to lend 
them the curtains, that the church 
might not be without its usual orna- 
ment, promising to return them after 
the festival. The man refused, because 
his wife had recently laid in, and the 
curtains were put around her bed, and 
could not be removed. The Virgin 
Mary appeared to the woman, in pu- 
nishment of her impiety, and after me- 
nacing death to her child and husband, 
ordered her to go to her church in 
Bethlehem, and having beheld the 
three sepulchres there, to choose one for 
herself: but she got absolution by papal 
means. 

In the famous romance of Reynard 
the Fox, an heroi-comick poem, writ- 
ten by Pierre de St. Cloud in the thir- 



a Da Cange, v. Peregrinatio. 
b Bibl. Topograph. Brit. viii. 
'- Trivet, 30. 



126. 



teenth century, d Reynard is condemned 
to die for his sins, and, being without 
resource, begs to take the Cross, and 
in expiation of his sins, to visit the 
holy places beyond sea. The Lion 
answers, that these foreign Pilgrimages 
have, as yet, reformed nobody : that he 
knew even people who had gone out 
good, return bad : and as to the delin- 
quent, there was no hope of his reform 
by going to the Holy Land, as he would 
return just as bad as before. Upon 
condition, however, that the Crusade 
should be for life, consent is granted. 
The cross is then put upon his shoul- 
ders, the scarf and bourdon are brought 
to him, and he is told, that if he dies, 
he will go directly into Paradise, Those, 
whom he had offended, pardon him 
and advise him to repent. The hypo- 
crite promises every thing, while his 
only object is to escape. They let him 
go, and he immediately insults and in- 
jures his benefactors. e 

Of these Pilgrimages for punishment, 
some were greater, some less. Those 
which were greater were directed to St. 
James's, Rome, or Jerusalem : the 
smaller to visiting the Oratories, within 
the Province or Kingdom. The Pil- 
grimage was, according to the crimes, 
harder or lighter. They who had com- 
mitted great crimes, as homicide, for 
instance, were bound to carry iron 
chains/ through the holy places, until 
they were liberated. In an ancient 
Manuscript Consuetudinal, it appears, 
that this custom prevailed in the inte- 
rior parts of France, that whoever had 
killed his next relative with the sword, 
and afterwards repenting, should relate 



d lam aware that Mr. Douce assigns it an earlier 
origin, &c. 

e Notices des MSS. a Paris, v. 303, 304. 

f A knight with iron chains is engraved in the 
Frontispiece of Strutt's Dresses, vol. i. 



PILGRIMAGES OF PUNISHMENT AND PENANCE. 



347 



his crime to the Priest, by direction of 
the latter was to have the sword made 
into an iron chain; and the chain 
closely bound, around his neck, belly, 
and arms, and so be expelled from his 
own country and native soil. In the 
mean time, until the divine mercy 
should order these chains to be loos- 
ened, he should be compelled to travel 
first to Rome, and afterwards, through 
the different places, to ask pardon of 
the saints. a 



It was customary to impose for pe- 
nance the wearing an iron ring upon 
the arm, which was not to be laid aside, 
till after many Pilgrimages to the se- 
pulchres of saints, and the rings were 
loosed by some miracle.* 5 

Of these Pilgrimages for punish- 
ment, that of Robert the Devil is very 
curious and entertaining, on account of 
the penance : 



" The hermite with that shortlye did awake 
And called Robert, and spaeke to him, 
And saide heare now the pennaunce that ye shall take, 
God commaundeth thee to counterfet a foole in all thinge, 
Meat none to eate without a dogge do yt bringe 
To the in his mouth, then must thou yt eate. 
No worde to speake, but as domb ever beinge, 
With dogges every night also thou must sleepe. 

*?? *?r *j* •?? ^ 

Then poore Robert departed fro the hermyte 

And blessed hym and agayne went to Rome 

For to do hys pennaunce in the strete, 

And whan that he thether was come, 

Like as he had ben a foole he dyd ronne 

And lepte and daunced from one syde to another, 

Many folke laughed at him soone 

And wende he had bene a foole, they knewe non other. 

Boyes folowed hym throughe the strete 
Castynge styekes and stones at hym, 
And some with roddes his bodye dyd beate, 
The children made great shoutes and cryenge, 
B urges of the cyttie at Robert laye laughynge 
Out of theyr wyndowes to se him playe, 
The boyes threwe dyrte and myre at him, 
Thus continued Robert manye a daye. 

Thus he played the foole on a season, 

He came on a tyme to the Emperours courte, 

And sawe that the gate stood all open, 

Robert ranne into the hall and beganne to worke, 

So daunced and lept and aboute so starte, 

At the last the Emperoure had pyttie on hym, 

Howe he taere hys clothes and gnew his shyrte, 

And bade a servaunte meate hym for to bringe. 

Thys servaunte brought Robert plentye of meate 
So proferde hyt him and saide go dyne, 
Robert sate styll he woulde not eate, 
Yet God wotte his belly greate pyne. 



a Du Cange, v. Peregrinatio. 



b Id. v. Circuit ferrei . 



, 



348 PILGRIMAGES OF PUNISHMENT AND PENANCE. 

At last tliemperour sayde yonder is a hounde of mine, 
And bade hys servaunte throwe him a bone, 
So he dyd, and when Robert yt had spyne, 
Alack thought Robert he shall not eate it alone. a 

He lepte from the table and with the dogge faught, 

And all for to have the bone awaye, 

The Hounde at the last by the fyngers him caught, 

So stylle in his mouth he kept hys praye. 

When Robert sawe that, downe he laye 

The dogge gnewe the one ende and Robert the other. 

The Emperour laughed when he that sawe, 

And sayde the dogge and he fought harde together. 

The Emperour sawe that he was hongrye, 

And bade to throwe the dogge a hole lofe, 

Whan Robert sawe that he was glad greatelye, 

For to lose his parte he was right lothe. 

And again to the dogge he goeth, 

So brake the lofFe asonder and to the hounde 

He gave the one halfe to say the sothe 

And eate the other, as the dogge dyd on the grounde. 

The Emperoure saide, syth that I was borne 

Sawe I never a more foole natural], 

Nor such an ydeot sawe I never beforne 

That had lever eate that, that to the dogge did fall 

Rather then that that was proffered hym in the hall, 

Than Robert toke hys staffe and smote at forme and style, 

What sorowe was in his hearte they knewe not all, 

These men were gladde to see hym playe the foole b 

At the last Robert went into a garden 

And there he founde a fayre fountayne, 

He was a thurst, and whan he had dronken 

He went in to hys dogge agayne 

To folowe hym ever he was fayne 

Thus under a stayre at nyht laye the hounde, 

And ever his pennaunce Robert did not dysdayne, 

Alwaye hys bed was with the dogge on the grounde. 

Whan the Emperoure espyed hym lye there, 

Fett hym a bed to a man dyd he saye, 

And lett yt be layed for hym under the stayre, 

So they dyd and Robert poynted as naye, 

And woulde have them to beare the bed awaye. 

Then they fett hym an arme full of strawe, 

And thereupon by hys dogge he laye, 

All men marveyled that yt sawe. 

Much myrthe and sporte he made ever amonge, 

Arid as the Emperoure was at dyner on a daye 

A Jue sate at the borde, that great rowme longe 

In that house beare, and was receyved all waye. 

Than Roberte hys dogge toke in hys amies in faye 

And touched the Jue, and he over hys sholder loked backe, 

a Roberte the Devyll, a Metrical Romance, from an ancient illuminated Manuscript, p. 35. 
b Ibid. p. 36. 



PILGRIMAGES OF PUNISHMENT AND PENANCE, 



349 



Robert set the dogges [tail] to hys mowth without naye, 
Full soore the Emperoure loughe, whan he sawe that. a 

Robert sawe a bryde that shoulde be maryed 

And soone he toke her by the hande 

So into a foule donge myxen he her caryed 

And in the myre he let her stande. 

The Emperoure stoode and behelde hym longe, 

At the last Robert toke a quycke b catte 

And ranne into the kechyn amonge the thronge 

And threwe her quycke into the beefe potte. 

Lordes and barons loughe that they could not stande 
To see hym make myrth withoute harme, 
They sayd he was the meryest in all that lande." 



A very singular custom prevailed in 
some Pilgrimages of Penitence. Cer- 
tain Penitents imposed upon them- 
selves the penance of receiving blows 
with ferules, upon the palms of their 
hands : which they commuted by strik- 
ing the ground instead. Peter Damian 
mentions a man who wore an iron 
corslet next his skin, had iron rings 



around his limbs, with difficulty per- 
formed his Metaneas [penitential in- 
clinations], and very often dashed the 
palms of his hands upon the pavements 
In Strutt^s Dresses is a female Pilgrim, 
lying on the ground, apparently to per- 
form this penance. d 

a Robert the Devyll, &c. p. 37. b Alive. 

e Du Cange, v. Palmata. d PI. cxxxiv. 



350 



PILGRIMAGES TO ROME. 



CHAPTER X. 



PILGRIMAGES TO ROME. 



Lewis, in his Life of Caxton, p. 77? 
says, " About 709, an odd and surpris- 
ing opinion of the merit and holiness 
of pilgrimages to Rome, wonderfully 
prevailed among the English, insomuch 
that all ranks and degrees of every sex 
and age of the people of this nation 
travelled to Rome, and placed a mighty 
confidence in visiting the tombs of the 
Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and of 
such other holy men, &e. as had there 
suffered for the sake of Christ. The 
consequence of this was, that about the 
middle of this century, this humour so 
far increased, that the English Nuns 
ran to Rome ; and there were so many 
lewd women of the English nation 
abroad in Lombardy, France, &c. that 
Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz, com- 
plained of them to the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, and recommended to him 
the suspension of this practice of pil- 
grimaging, as of very bad and scandal- 
ous consequence." a 

The general reason for Pilgrimages 
to Rome in the whole Middle Age was 
to obtain absolution from the Pope. 
There were however exceptions. 

The Noble Anglo-Saxons went there 
with immense retinues on horseback, 
for the purpose only of praying to the 
Holy Apostles there. b 

Petrarch thus explains this appella- 
tion : " What pleasure/' says he, " is 
it for a Christian to behold a town ce- 
mented by the blood of the Martyrs ; 
built, in some fashion, of their bones 
and nerves ; to contemplate the image 
of our divine Master, the sacred ves- 
tiges of the feet of his Apostle, engrav- 
ed in the rock ; the tombs of the Saints, 
the chambers of the Apostles, and all 
the precious remains of incipient Chris- 
tianity which it contains in its bosom." c 

a Dibdin's Typographical Antiquit. i. 176. 

b Anglia Sacra, ii. 79. 

c Mcmoires pour la Vie de Petrarque, i. 284. 



The Limina Apostolorum were churches 
of the Apostles, d or their bodies buried 
in chapels of the great Church. e Stuke- 
ley makes the Limina Apostolorum the 
subterraneous oratory of St. Peter's, 
Rome. f 

The British and Irish Saints also 
made this Pilgrimage, and called at the 
eminent Abbies upon their return.^ 

The Pilgrims to Rome were called 
Romei and Romipetce, but Romipeta- 
gium was a term not confined to this 
pilgrimage, but extended to others. 11 

It was a favourite destination for 
voluntary penitentiary pilgrimages. In 
the Romance of Reynard the Fox, 
Reynard, become old, feels some re- 
morse for the errors of his life, and 
wishes in penitence to go in pilgrimage 
to Rome. But meeting with some un- 
pleasant incidents upon his road, he 
returns home convinced, that he may 
be as honest a man in his own house 
as in running to strange countries. 1 

Jubilees drew numerous pilgrims to 
partake of the Indulgences^ The cele- 
brated John Talbot, Earl of Shrews- 
bury, when released from imprison- 
ment by the French King, did not use 
his liberty to take up arms again, but 
went to Rome to profit by the indul- 
gences of the Jubilee. 1 

These indulgences were plenary re- 
mission of all sins. The concourse of 
pilgrims was prodigious, nearly a mil- 
lion, in the Jubilee of 1350. All the 
inhabitants of Rome turned Innkeep- 
ers ; and made the Pilgrims pay dear 
for the support of themselves and their 
horses. As the strangers came from 

d Du Cange. c Id. v. Capellani. 

1 Iter Boreale, p. 62. 
s Anglia Sacra, ii. 635. 
h Du Cange, v. Romipeta. 
1 MS. Biblioth. Nation. Notices, v. 311. 
k Memoires pour la Vie de Petrarch, i. 103. 
1 Conquete de la Normandie, MS. per Rob. 
Blondel. Notices, vi. 92. 



PILGRIMAGES TO ROME. 



351 



all countries, and for the most part 
knew only their mother tongues, they 
were obliged to employ interpreters, 
in confession, who published what they 
had heard, unless they were hand- 
somely paid for silence. This abuse 
occasioned the establishment of Peni- 
tentiaries who understood the lan- 
guages. 3 

In the middle of the fourteenth Cen- 
tury, it was an established custom to 
make pilgrimages to Rome from all 
parts of the Christian world, in order 
to see the portrait of Christ. Petrarch 
says, that even old men made this tour 
with impatience. Two portraits were 
exhibited, which equally excited the 
curiosity of the devout. 

One was the Veronique, h a handker- 
chief, which a Jewish woman is pre- 
tended to have thrown over the face of 
Christ, when he was carrying his cross, 
in order to wipe off the blood and 
sweat, with which it was covered. His 
portrait remained impressed upon it. 
It was brought to Rome, as affirmed, 
under the empire of Tiberius, but Ma- 
rianus Scotus, an author of the eleventh 
Century, is the first who mentions it. 
It used to be kept at the Church of 
the Holy Ghost, but Boniface VIII. 
removed it to St. Peter's, and placed it 
between the altars of St. James and 
Mary Magdalen. 

The other was that which appeared 
miraculously upon the top of the 



a Villani, &c. 

b See Tyrwhitt's Gloss. Chaucer, v. Veronique. 
See § Costumes. 



Church of St. John Lateran, on the 
day upon which they were celebrating 
the dedication of that Church, which 
the Emperor Constantine built soon 
after his Baptism. It is in Mosaic, 
and the history of its appearance is pre- 
served in a Manuscript of this Church, 
written on parchment of the ninth cen- 
tury, with this title, " Discourse of the 
Dedication of this Church of our Sa- 
viour." It is said, that no fires have 
ever injured it. Nicholas IV. in re- 
building the vault of the Church in 
1291, placed there the miraculous 
image. It was a more stern and reve- 
rential portrait than the Veronique, as 
appears from the verses of Petrarch 
quoted below ; d and in 1318, John 
XXTI. granted an indulgence to those 
who went to see this image, which was 
believed to have been painted by di- 
vine hands. e 

The Pilgrims, who for the represent- 
ation of the Passion, opened the first 
theatre at Paris, brought there from 
Italy, the taste and first idea of the 
Drama. f 



c In Duppa's " Subversion of the Papal Govern- 
ment, 17 98," p. 20, is a short account of this head, 
called " II Santo Volto,'' and an engraving of it* 
After exhibition, it was removed to the Chapel of 
the Sancta Sanctorum at the Scala Santa. Id. 
p. 30. 

d Faciemque agnoscere Christi, 

Vel quse foemineo servatur condita panno, 
Vel populo quse visa olim sub vertice templi 
Emicuit, perstatque minax horrore verendo. 

Carm. 1. 2. Ep. 5. 

e Memoires pour la Vie de Petrarque, v. ii. pp. 
204, 205. 

f Observat. surl'Italie, i. 339. 



352 



PILGRIMAGES TO COMPOSTELLA. 



CHAPTER XL 



PILGRIMAGES TO COMPOSTELLA. 



In the form of bidding the beads on 
the Sunday, or, as it was sometimes 
called, u The Dominical Prayer in the 
pulpit/' is the following clause : " Also 
ye shall pray for all true Pilgrims and 
Palmers, that have taken their way to 
Rome, to Jerusalem, to Saint Katha- 
rine^, or to Saint James, or to any 
other holy place, that God of his grace 
give them time and space well for to 
go and to come to the profit of their 
lives and souls." By this it appears, 
that at the time of composing this form, 
these were the fashionable pilgrimages. 
In a more ancient form, no particular 
places or saints are mentioned, but this 
clause is expressed as follows, a Ye 
shall bids for hem that in good ways 
beest ywent other wendyt other thenkit 
to wenthe her sins to boot, that our 
Lord Jesus Christ ward and shield 
them from all misadventures, and grant 
them so going and coming, that it be 
him to worship, and them in remission 
of their sins, for them and for us, and 
all christian folk," This seems to inti- 
mate, as if, at the time when this an- 
cienter form was drawn, the Saints 
Katharine a and James of Compostella 
were not in so great request, or had in 
so much veneration as they were after- 
wards. b 

In the General Hist or ie of Spaine, 
written in French by Lewis de May erne 
Turquet, and translated into English by 
Edward Grimeston, Esquire, is the fol- 
lowing passage. " To this is added the 
finding out of the Sepulchre of the 
Apostle St. James, neere unto Iria, by 
the Bishop of that place, called Theo- 
demir, at the relation of two men, which 
the Historie of Compostella, in Latine, 
calls Personatos, that is to say, masked, 
who said they had seene Angels and 



a Of Senein Italy, canonized 1461. 
b Dibdin's Typographical Antiq. i. 175. 
c London, fol. 1612. 



torches, about the place where his bodie 
was found in a coffin of marble in a 
wood in the year 797> whereat the Spa- 
niards themselves do much wonder, 
seeing they find no mention in their 
Histories of S. James Sepulcher in 
Spaine, in all the time which past since 
his death, unto the raigne of this Al- 
phonso : no not in the time of Miron, 
the first Christian King of the Sueves 
in Gallicia, who first erected the King 
of the Gothesj that were Christians, 
nor yet since. It was revealed at that 
time by such apparitions to Theodemir, 
who believed it to be the verie body of 
S. James, and so persuaded the King 
D. Alphonso, who was wonderfull joy- 
ful thereof, and built a temple, endow- 
ing it with great revenues, taking this 
manifestation for a singular favour of 
God. The Spaniards have since made 
him their patron and protector of their 
Countrie, calling on him in all their 
necessities, especially in the warre. 
Neighbour Princes were amazed at this 
relicke ; for we read that Charlemaigne 
(in whose times D. Alphonso began to 
raigne) being advertised of this inven- 
tion, posted thither, and afterwards ob- 
tained from Pope Leo the Third, sitting 
at Rome, that the Episcopal See of 
Iria should be removed to Compostella, 
under the Metropolitane of Braga, from 
the which it was since exempt, as wee 
will shew hereafter.'- 5 d 

Lewis, in his Life of Caxton, says, 
" St. James I take to be St. James of 
Compostella in Spain ; hither, it was 
said, the bones or relicks of James, the 
brother of John, who was killed by 
Herod, were translated. But it does 
not appear that much notice was taken 
of them till Calistus or Calixtus II. 's 
time, who was chosen Pope of Rome, 
A.D. 1119. He not only wrote a tract 

d Pp. 179, 180. 



PILGRIMAGES TO COMPOSTELLA. 



353 



of the miracles of this saint, done at 
Compostella, but advised the English 
Pilgrims in particular rather to go for 
pilgrimage to this saint than to Rome, 
and promised them, on account of the 
length of the journey, that if they went 
twice to Compostella, they should have 
refunded to them the same advantage- 
ous benediction which they had who 
went once to Rome. a 

In 975 the Moors sacked the town, 
and carried away the small bells in the 
steeple of the Church, the Spaniards 
saying " that the Apostle^ s Sepulchre 
could not be violated, the Moors being 
terrified with a great light that came 
out of it/" b In 1125 it was made an 
Archiepiscopal See, c and long after, 
Ferdinand and Isabella founded a hos- 
pital for the relief of the poor, and of 
Pilgrims. d 

Cervantes gives the following inte- 
resting account of Pilgrims in Spain. 
"He saw coming towards them six 
Pilgrims with their staves, of that sort 
which begs charity by singing. So 
soon, therefore, as they approached 
them they made a lane, and raising 
their voices together, began to sing in 
their language, though Sancho under- 
stood nothing of what they said, except 
the word charity. He offered them 
food ; but they replied that they want- 
ed money. These Pilgrims were well 
provided with wine, &c. in their wal- 
lets, and were clothed in rochets or 
mantles over their doublets. In giving 
an account of themselves, they say, 
that a great number of them were used 
to come to Spain yearly, upon pretence 
of visiting the holy places there, which 
was their Indies, as being productive 
of most certain gain. They traverse 
the whole country, and there is not a 
illage from which they are not dis- 
missed with a bellyful of meat and 
drink and a rial in money. Thus at 
the end of their pilgrimage, they are 
ibove a hundred crowns in pocket, 
tt-hich, being changed into gold, they 
conceal in the hollow of their staves', 



Dibdin's Typographical Antiq. i. 176. 
General Historie of Spaine, &c. p. 215, 
P. 278. i P. 917. 



or in the patches of their cloaks, and 
by management thus carry off their 
gains to their own country, in despite 
of the guards at the passes and gates 
where they are examined and regis- 
tered." 6 

A custom of two-pence was taken 
from every person going and returning 
by the river Thames on pilgrimage to 
the shrine of St. James. f 

In the year 11 70 Godrick returned 
from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem by way 
of Compostella.^ Henry son of Henry 
II. wished to make this pilgrimage to 
escape from his father's superintend- 
ance, 11 and the King himself sent Am- 
bassadors to Spain stating his inten- 
tion of visiting Compostella, and re- 
questing letters of safe conduct for his 
journey and return. 1 This was neces- 
sary ; for it was a custom, at least be- 
fore the prmishrnent of them by Ri- 
chard I. for the people of Serges and 
Lespurmi in Gascony to plunder the 
Pilgrims going to St. James^s, k and the 
privileges obtained for them by John 
Mansel have been before mentioned. 1 
In 1386, when John Duke of Lancas- 
ter claimed the Crown of Spain, he was 
attended to St. James's by vast num- 
bers of Pilgrims.™ 

Erasmus mentions a person in dan- 
ger of shipwreck, who vowed a pilgrim- 
age to Compostella, with bare feet and 
head, only an iron corslet on his body, 
and begging his bread all the way. n 

Godrick, the celebrated hermit, was 
brought up to business, and was owner 
of half of one ship and a fourth of an- 
other. Thus sailing through different 
countries, he carried on trade, and 
made pilgrimages at the same time to 
the Shrines of the Saints, and recom- 
mended himself to their patronage. 
When engaged, he of course minded 
his concerns, but when alone, he used 
to ruminate upon the Lord's prayer 
and creed. This custom of carrvino- 

J o 

e Don Quixote, iv. 139-143. Edit. Glasg. 1803. 
f Bayley's Tower of London, ii. 655. 
s M. Paris, 98. h Decern Scriptores, 1110. 
1 Id. 1126. k id. nig. 

1 C. vi. m Knighton, sub anno. 

n Colloquia, 204. ° M. Paris, 97. 

2 A 



354 



PILGRIMAGES TO COMPOSTELLA. 



on commerce and pilgrimage at the 
same time, appears to have been quite 
common in the journies to Compos- 
teila. In Mr. Lodge's Shrewsbury 
Papers, Thomas Allen, writing to the 
Earl of Shrewsbury in 1516, has the 
following passage : " The saying is her, 
yn some places there was a ship, fraygth 
in Tempnes with goods of the religion 
of Saynt Jamys/' Upon this Mr. Lodge 
remarks thus : " The property of the 
Pilgrims to Compostella in Spain, the 
supposed burial place of the Apostle 
St. James. Great numbers of these 
went annually from hence, in ships re- 
gularly licensed for that purpose ; pre- 
viously binding themselves by an oath, 
not to discover the secrets of England, 
nor to take more money with them, 
than might be necessary for the ex- 
pences of their journey. It should 
seem from this passage, that the origi- 
nal motive to pilgrimage was now giv- 
ing way to that spirit of traffick which 
prevailed in proportion to the decay of 
pious superstition/' a It appears how- 
ever to have been always held, that 
the interchange of Commerce and Hos- 
pitality was essentially necessary for 
the propagation of the faith. b 



a Illustrations of British History, i. p. 12. 
h Solorzanus de Indiarum Jure, p. 300. 



The Pilgrims to Compostella went 
by the name of Jacobita and Jacobi- 
pet<s. There was an hotel at Paris, on 
purpose for receiving the Pilgrims on 
the road to St. James's; but the re- 
venues failing, it was purchased for the 
Dominicans. 

Sir John Hawkins says, that the 
Pilgrims to St. James of Compostella, 
excavated a staff or walking stick into 
a musical instrument for recreation on 
their journey. d This ascription of the 
invention of the Bourdon to these Pil- 
grims in particular is very questionable. 

Erasmus says, that the Compostella 
Pilgrims, upon return, were loaded with 
scallop shells, pewter or leaden images, 
chains of straw, and a rosary on the 
arm. e 

Those, who undertook pilgrimages 
to St. James's shrine at Compostella, 
or to St. Peter 5 s at Rome, were distin- 
guished by the escallop shell, affixed to 
their hats and cloaks ; a badge, which 
denoted the wearer's intention of cross- 
ing the seas, and which further re- 
minded him of the occupation of those 
Apostles, as fishermen. f 

c Du Cange, v. Jacobites. 
d Hist, of Musick, iv. 139. 
e Peregrinatio Religionis ergo, inter Colloquia, 
p. 353. 

f Taylor's Ind. Monast. pref. xviii. 



PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES, WELLS, &C. 355 



CHAPTER XII. 



PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES, WELLS, &C. 



That fierce Puritan (in principle) Sir 
David Lindsay, in the second Book of 
his Monarchy, thus speaks of these 
kinds of pilgrimage, in his chapter 
ei Of Images used among Christian 
Men." a After detailing the images of 
Saints, and their attributes, he goes on, 

{i All these on altars stately stands 
Priests crying for their offerands ; 
To whom we commons on our knees 
Do worship all these imageries 
In church or queer or in the cl oyster 
Praying to them our Pater-noster. 
In pilgrimage from town to town 
With offering and adoration, 
To them ay babbling on our beeds 
That they may help us in our needs, 
What differs this, declare to me 
From the Gentiles idolatrie ? 
If this be true that thou reports 
It goes right near the self-same sorts; 
But we by counsel of Clergy 
Have license to make Imagery J° 

a P. 64. Ed. Glasg. 1754. 12mo. 

b In 1407, says Archbishop Arundel, " Beyonde 
the sea are the beste Peynters that ever I saw. 
And, Syrs, I tell you this is their Maner, and it is 
a goode Maner. Whan that an Ymage maker shall 
kerve, caste in moulde, or peynte ony images, he 
shall go to a Prieste, and shryve him as clene, as if 
he sholde than dye, and take Penaunce, and make 
some certeyne vowe of fasting or of praying or of 
pilgrimage, doinge, praying the Priests, specially 
to pray for hym, that he may have grace to make a 
faire, and a devout ymage/' (State Trials, i. 25. 
col. 2. ed. fol.) The makers of them were called 
dnthropoformitai, and carried them to fairs for 
sale. (Du Cange.) Orders were ako given to buy 
them from abroad, as from Jerusalem, where there 
was a particular place for selling them (M. Paris, 
176.) The crucifix and the Virgin Mary were the 
most common, because, while the power of other 
Saints was limited, that of the former extended to 
all things (Catholick Doctrine of the Church of 
England, 4to. 1675, p. 133), and the latter was 
able to attend her own candle, which, of course, 
saved much trouble (Bishop Jewell's Reply to 
Harding, bl. lett. 1609. p. 381). We find images 
of Christ in breeches. (Da Cange, v. Antiphoneti.) 
Mosheim says, that the image of Mary and the 
child Jesus obtained the first place on account of 
the Nestorian controversy, Maclaine's Edit, i. 258, 
4to. 



Which of unlearned been the books 
For when the laicks on them looks, 
It brings them to remembrance 
Of Saints lives the circumstance : 
How the faith for to fortify 
They suffered pain right patiently. 
Seeing the image on the rood 
Men should remember on the blood 
Which Christ into his Passion 
Did shed for our salvation, 
Or when thou seest the portraitour 
Of blessed Mary virgin pure, 
A pleasant babe upon her knee, c 
Then in thy mind remember thee 
The word which the prophet said 
How she should be both mother and 

maid. 
But who that sitteth in their knees 
Praying to many imageries 
With oration and offerands 
Kneeling with cup into their hands 
No difference been I say to thee 
From the Gentiles idolatrie. 
Right so of divers nations 
I read the abominations. 
How Greeks made their devotion hail 
To Mars to save them in battel. 
To Jupiter some took their voyage 
To save them from the stormy rage : 
Someprayedto Venus from the spleen 
That they their lovers might obtain : 
And some to Juno for riches 
Their pilgrimage they would address : 
So doth our common popular 
Which were too long for to declare, 
Their superstitious pilgrimages 
To many diverse images. 

Nicholas Dovedale, Prebendary of 
Clonmethan, belonging to St. Patrick's, 
Dublin, in a petition preferred by him 
to parliamentl4thEdw. IV. stated, that 
divers persons, aliens, strangers, and 



c So distinguished from our Lady of Pity, where 
she is weeping over a dead Christ in her lap, while 
(says La Brocquiere, 227) Kicodemus was pre= 
paring the tomb. 

2 A 2 



356 PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES, WELLS, &C. 



denizens, did frequent, in considerable 
numbers, by way of pilgrimage, the 
Chapel of St. Catharine the Virgin 
and Martyr, of Feldstown, which was 
appropriated and annexed to the Pre- 
bend of Clonmethan, being for the 
health and safety of their souls and 
accomplishment of their petitions and 
prayers ; those persons he complained 
had been at divers times vexed and 
molested on divers pretences, by reason 
of which they were obliged to lay aside 
said devotions and pilgrimages : this 
was a case that peculiarly interested 
the feeling of such an assembly at that 
time; the parliament accordingly or- 
dained, that the persons and properties 
of all such pilgrims should, during their 
pilgrimage, be under the protection of 
the king, nor should the person of any 
such be arrested on any writ or autho- 
rity whatever, for debt, treason, felony, 
or trespass, until said pilgrimage should 
be accomplished ; provided that during 
their going thither, dwelling there, and 
returning, they did behave peaceably to 
the king's liege subjects ; they ordained 
likewise that any officer who should 
vex or arrest the persons, or molest 
the houses of such pilgrims, contrary to 
this statute, should forfeit, for every 
such offence, the sum of twentypounds. a 

Doors of chapels were ordered to be 
left open on particular holydays, that 
pilgrims might have free access to 
them. b 

The appearance and manners of Pil- 
grims, in these domestick peregrina- 
tions, are admirably described in a cu- 
rious dialogue, between, as I think, a 
captious disciple of the great Heresiarch 
(as Wickliff was styled) and Arundel, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign 
of Henry the Fourth. " Also, Sir, he 
says I knowe well, that whan diverse 
men and women will go thus after their 
own wiiles, and fmdyng out one pil- 
grimage, they will orden with them be- 
fore to have with them, both men and 
women, that can well synge wanton 



a Stat. Roll. 14 E. IV. Mason's Dublin, pp. 
33. 34. 

»• Dugdale'sSt. Paul's, p. 91. ed. Ellis. 



songes ; c and some other pilgremis wil* 
have with them bagge pipes, so that 
every towne they come thro we, what 
with the noyse of their singyng and 
with the sound of their pipyng, and 
with the jangling of their Canterbury 
bellis, and with barking out of doggis 
after them, that they make more noise 
than if the kinge came there awaye with 
all his clarions, and many other men- 
strelles. d And if these men and women 
be a moneth in their pilgrimage, many 
of them shall be an half-year after great 
janglers, tale-tellers, and lyers/' 

The Archbishop justifies part of this, 
by observing, " that pilgremys have 
with them both syngers,and also pipers, 
that whan one of them that goeth bare- 
foote striketh his too upon a stone, and 
hurteth him sore, and maketh him to 
blede, it is well-done, that he or his 
fellow begyu than a songe, or else take 
out of his bosome a bagge-pipe, for to 
drive away with soche myrthe the hurte 
of his felow. For with soche solace 
the travell and werinesse of pylgremes 
is lightely and merily broughte forth " e 

A gallant and learned nation will 
smile at the following record of their 
ancestors. The Scotch Pilgrims were 
so notorious for lying and fabulous ad- 
ventures, that to " lie like a Scotch- 
man'^ became a proverb : f but it ap- 
pears from preceding passages, that 
Pilgrims of other nations also told lies. 

Heaps of stones, on which crosses 
were erected, were laid together by 
them when they came within view of 
the end of their journey, and were 
called Mountjoyes.s This term i( Mount 
of the joy of God" was certainly the 
denomination of some heaps of stones ; 



c Love-songs were sung instead of psalms. Du 
Cange, v. Amor. Sternhold and Hopkins (says 
Warton) translated the psalms for superseding 
these amorous ditties, but in vain. Juliana Bernes 
(a Nun) published obscenities. 

d Even Noblemen did not travel, without a 
trumpeter preceding. See Phillips's Shrewsbury, 
p. 47. Of the King's Clarions and Minstrels, see 
Ordinances of Royal Housholds. 

e State Trials, i. p. 27. ed. fol. 1730. 

f Du Cange, v. Escotus. 

* Hutchinson's Durham, ii. p. 312. 



PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES, WELLS, &C. 35/ 



and also of little hills where saints had 
suffered martyrdom. a 

This pilgrimage to Churches and 
Shrines is the most ancient and uni- 
versal of all the kinds. The feast of 
the consecration of the Temples was 
celebrated annually in Hindostan, and 
every temple dedicated to some parti- 
cular deity. The feast lasted ten days, 
and was attended by Pilgrims and of- 
ferings. 13 The parishioners of Glaston- 
bury were told, that if they did not at- 
tend church and keep Dunstan's day 
as a holiday, but minded their business 
and labour, nothing prosperous would 
happen to them during that year, or 
they would sustain some heavy losses 
in their cattle or estates. At the tomb 
of St. Teliaus, among the Ancient Bri- 
tons, the sick, it is said, were often 
healed, the blind restored to sight, and 
the deaf made to hear ; wherefore, says 
his historian, celebrate his festival, 
with the whole energy of your mind, 
go to the church, and according to your 
respective means give alms to the poor/ 1 
It was the custom in the Anglo-Saxon 
eera to prefer the patronage of the saints 
to all worldly matters. e These passages, 
while they throw light upon the festival 
of the dedication of the church, show 
the uncommon force of the principle 
which produced pilgrimages to shrines. 
Those who could not go abroad were 
encouraged to these do me stick pil- 
grimages instead. An antient verse, 
about the proportion of pardons given 
to pilgrims for these visits, says, that 
two pilgrimages to St. David's equalled 
in merit one to Rome : 

"Roma semel quantum, bis dat Menevia tantum. !!f 

Pilgrimages to Shrines. The Canopy 
over Shrines called Mandualis, whence 
Mantel-piece, Requies, Bipa. &c. was 
sometimes so richly adorned with gold, 
silver, gems, and other ornaments, as 
to make a very brilliant appearance, on 
whichaccount. the Shrines were covered 



a Du Cange, v. Mon-i Gaudii. 
b Sketches of the Religion of the Hindoos, i. 114. 
e Angl. Sacr. ii. 231. d Id. 666. e Eadm. 51. 
{ Fuller's Church Hist. cent. xii. p. 24. 



in Lent.g Formerly, in foreign coun- 
tries at least, a golden dove was placed 
on the top of the canopy, h and gifts 
and offerings were hung round the 

Shrines. 1 

The form and condition of the Shrine, 



id th 



e annexation of an image to it, 



was of importance, because such tombs 
had greater privileges than plainer mo- 

l numents. Sometimes offerings were 

! made at the tombs of persons not ca- 
nonized. k 

It is observed of the tomb of Ralph 
de Shrewsbury, fifteenth Bishop of 
Bath and Wells, that he was buried at 
Wells, between the steps of the Choir 
and the High Altar, in an alabaster 
tomb, and that over his tomb was 
placed an image very like him. From 
whence more indulgences were granted 
to all who visited the place of his bu- 

I rial, and prayed devoutly for his soul.l 
When the tombs of eminent saints 
were visited for the purpose of reco- 
vering health, and also in return for 
vows, if there remained any token of 
the disease, as congealed blood, &c. it 
was sometimes enclosed in silver, paid 
suspended to the shrine of the saint 
who effected the cure. m St. Cuthbert^s 
Shrine at Durham had four seats or 
places convenient underneath for the 
pilgrims or lame men, sitting on their 

| knees, to lean and rest on, in the time 
of their devout offerings and fervent 
prayers to God and holy St. Cuthbert, 
for his miraculous relief and succour." 
The old Gauls used to hang the members 
or feet of men made of wood, or wool 
stuffed, upon consecrated trees in the 
high roads, thinking by this means to 
be cured of divers diseases : and instead 
of this it is ordered in councils, that 
persons should keep Yigils in the 
Church. At St. Paul's,' - London, if 
the pilgrims offered burning tapers, 
they were extinguished, melted, and 
the wax sold, and if money or obla- 



s Du Cange, v. Ripa, &c h Id. v. Pendentia. 
1 Du Cange, v. Sepulehrum. 

k Taylor's Index Monast. pref. xviii. 

1 Angl. Sacr. i. 569. m Id. i. 648. 

u Antiq. of Durham by Patr. Saunderson, p. 6. 

Du Cange, v. Pervigilhim. 



358 PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES, WELLS, &C. 



tions, were put into an iron box, and 
applied to the use of the Dean and 
Chapter. 3 Porphyry (de Abstinentia) 
says, that Amasis substituted figures of 
wax of the human size for the human 
victims used at Ilithyia near Latopolis. b 
Solon made the Thesmothetae or 
guardians of the Laws, promise for 
every law which they broke to dedicate 
a golden statue at Delphi, of the same 
weight as themselves. These obser- 
vations may explain some very curious 
offerings. It was formerly the custom 
to weigh sick children at the shrines or 
sepulchres of saints, and offer their 
weight in corn, bread, or other things, 
adding a sum of money. Metellus 
mentions a person who weighed him- 
self there in bread and cheese, which 
he afterwards gave to the poor. d King 
Edward the First offered his measure 
in wax, to the Church of Orcheston in 
Wilts ; e and John Paston's mother, 
upon the sickness of her son, vowed 
that she would present an image of 
wax of the weight of him to our Lady 
of Walsingham. f Of these offerings 
of wax of the weight of the person, the 
anonymous writer of the Miracles of St. 
Thomas, published by Stapleton, treats 
largely.^ They appear to be, in some 
instances, tapers of the stature or 
height of the person, 11 and are called in 
the miracles of Simon the Hermit, Sta- 
tual Tapers. In the life of St. Stephen, 
it is said, when the above man found 
his oxen stumble, fearing lest they 
should die within the house, he ordered 
his wife to take them far away, lest 
they should infect the other animals, 
but his wife recommending ivaxen sta- 
tuaries to be made for them, this was 
accordingly clone, and the oxen led to 
the Shrine of the Saint, and the sta- 
tuaries offered. 1 When persons could 
not well tame or manage their hawks, 
they sent waxen images of a hawk, or 



* Dugdale's St. Paul's, p. 14. ed. Ellis. 
h Savary's Egypt, ii. 440. c Plutarch in Solon. 
d Du Cange, v. Ponderare. 
e Liber Garderobee,28 Ed. I. p. 34. 
1 Paston Letters, iii. 21, 22. * C. 23, 37, 63. 
h Of twisted long tapers, &c. See Du Cange, 
Longitudo. 
1 Id. v. Statualis, Stalnarius cereu$,Staiuarium. 



other prssents, to St. Tibbe for better 
success. k After the battle of Poitiers, 
when John the French King was taken 
prisoner, a taper was lit at the Church 
of Notre Dame, before the Altar of the 
Virgin Mary, which burned without 
ceasing. It is said to have been rolled 
round the circle of a wheel, and to 
have been as long as the whole circum- 
ference of Paris. 1 

Behind the Shrine of St. David are 
two holes of a circular form, in which 
the offerings were deposited. 111 At St. 
PauFs, an iron box was affixed to the 
pillar where the image stood.^ 

It was a common practice to hire a 
pilgrim to visit a certain image, the 
distance of the journey being regulated 
by the wealth or the piety of the indi- 
vidual. 

The profits of these offerings were 
sometimes matters of dispute. Some 
arbitrators appointed the profits of the 
Shrine of Wulstan at Worcester to be 
divided between the Bishop and Con- 
vent, and the former to appoint one 
keeper, and the latter another.P 

Ladies made these pilgrimages to 
Shrines in all their finery, but met with 
a sad fate. In a MS. of the fourteenth 
century, many miracles were wrought 
at the Church of Roch-madame in 
France upon numerous ladies and che- 
valiers, who had washed their hair in 
wine to make it beautiful and glossy, 
and coming in pilgrimage to this 
Church, could not enter the door until 
they suffered their tresses to be cut off; 
and these tresses were afterwards hung 
up in the Church, as mementos before 
the image of our Lady. - 

Instances appear where the compa- 
nions or friends attendant upon a sick 
man, if he owed his recovery to the 
presumed assistance of a Saint, vowed 
a pilgrimage to the Shrine of that Saint 
bare-footed (for travelling thither on 



k J. Rous, p. 71. 

1 Hist, de Paris, i. fol. 639. Mem. de Pe- 
trarque, iii. 544. 

m Sir R. C. Hoare's Giraldus, i. 26. 

n Dugdale's St. Paul's, p. 14. 

Taylor's Index Monasticus, pref. xviii. 

p Angl. Sacr. i. 545. 

i Strutt's Dresses, ii. 242. 



PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES, WELLS, &C. 359 



foot was deemed essential), and the 
sick person himself made a similar pil- 
grimage and offerings 

A Prior having been healed at St. 
Edward's Shrine, preached a sermon 
on the feast of that Saint, (( in whiche 
he tolde of the myracle, ho we he was 
nolle." b 

Shrines were also visited before 
taking a voyage, to have the prayers of 
the Saints for safety, and also upon de- 
livery from danger. c 

Sometimes annual Pilgrimages were 
mode to certain Shrines. " Ther was 
a knyght, wyche hadde a custome 
every yere to go a pylgrimage unto the 
bodye of Marye Magdalene/' d 

Women in pregnancy used to make 
these pilgrimages. e (S Tho. (5th) Lord 
Berkeley and his wife went a kind of 
pilgrimage to divers religious houses, 
his wife being then great with child, or 
newly delivered of her son Thomas." f 

Caxton, in the Epilogue to his Cor- 
dyale, printed in 1480, says, " it is to 
be noted, that since the time of the 
great tribulation and adversity of my 
said Lord [Anthony Earl Rivers] he 
hath been full virtuously occupied as 
in going of pilgrimages to Saint James 
in Galice, to Rome, to Saint Bartholo- 
mew, to Saint Andrew, to Saint Mat- 
thew, in the realme of Naples, and to 
Saint Nicholas de Bar in Puyle [Apu- 
lia], and other divers holy places." e 

These kinds of pilgrimage were made 
a pretence by labourers and artificers 
to escape from their hundreds. In the 
statute of labourers, anno 1388, it is 
enacted, that no servant or labourer, 
whether man or woman, should depart 
at the end of his term, out of his hun- 
dred, rape, or wapentake, where he is 
resident, to serve or dwell elsewhere, 
under colour of going afar off in Pil- 
grimage, unless he has letters patent 
containing the cause of his going, and 
time of his return. 11 



a Angl. Sacr. i. 654. 

b Gold. Leg. fol. clxxxix. b. c M. Paris, 505. 

d Golden Legend, fol. cxv. 

e Decern Scriptores, 2432. 

1 Smythe's Berkeley MS. 

k Dibdin's Typographic. Antiquit. p. 7.9. 

h Decern Scriptores, 2730. 



In 1346, the beautiful but volup- 
tuous Isabella de Fiesco, Princess of 
Milan, having been delivered of twins, 
made a pilgrimage to St. Mark of Ve- 
nice, accompanied with the most gay 
lords and ladies, in the style of Cleo- 
patra^s voyage down the Cidnus. 
Feasts, balls, and every kind of plea- 
sure, attended her progress, and the 
husbands of the married ladies in her 
company, after their wives return, in- 
formed of their lot, were doomed to 
console one another, upon the univer- 
sality of their misfortune. The Lady 
herself set the example with the easy 
principles of the Egyptian Queen. 1 In 
the middle age the manners of all 
countries were nearly alike; and the 
sober English, not then checked by an 
exemplary reformed clergy, and austere 
sectaries, made a similar use of pil- 
grimage. " Frier Donald," says Cam- 
den, "preached at Paul's Crosse, that 
our Ladie was a virgin, and yet at her 
pilgrimages, there was made many a 
foule meeting. And loud cried out, Ye 
men of London, gang on yourselves 
with your wives to Wilsdon, in the Di- 
vePs name, or else keepe them at home 
with you with a sorrow." k 

The Canterbury Pilgrimage was pro- 
bably the most common. In the se- 
cond week of Lent, Edward the Third, 
and his mother, made a pilgrimage 
there, 1 and, I apprehend, this was the 
most general season for these pilgrim- 
ages. Becket's shrine had probably 
such a preference, because he was the 
peculiar Saint of Sinners, and therefore 
of universal application. 111 

Giraldus Cambrensis says, a the Bi- 
shop saw me and my companions 
marked with the tokens of St. Thomas 
suspended from my neck." n Giraldus 
on his return from abroad had visited 
the shrine of Becket ; and these signa- 
cula were, I apprehend, the " Canter- 
bury Bells " mentioned before, and 



1 Mem. de Petrarque, ii. 427. 
k Camden's Remains, p. 281. 
1 Angl. Sacr. i. 368. 



m Catholic Doctrine of the Church of Endand 
4to. Cambr. 1675, p. 133. ' 



Angl. Sacr. ii 481. 



360 



PROVINCIAL PILGRIMAGES TO SHRINES WELLS, &C. 



worn in token of the performance of 
the pilgrimage. 

Erasmus amply describes the exhi- 
bition made to the Pilgrims ; the skull 
of Thomas Becket, cased in silver; the 
blade of the sword which killed him ; 
the altar at which he was celebrating ; 
his hair shirt, &c; at the sight of all 
which the Pilgrims dropped on their 
knees, and kissed each relique. The 
jewels and rich gifts were exhibited by 
the Prior with a white wand, but they 
were strongly secured by gratings. a 

According to Erasmus, the Walsing- 
ham Pilgrimages were mere imitations 
of those to Loretto ; but there is an 
apparent mixture of fiction in his ac- 
count of this our famous provincial Pil- 
grimage, which precludes quotation . b 

Holy Wells are of Classical and 
Druidical Ancientry. On a spot called 
Nell's Point, is a fine well, to which 
great numbers of women resort on 
Holy Thursday, and having washed 
their eyes in the spring, they drop a 
pin into it. A kind of fair is held 
round St. Caradoc's Well, cakes sold, 
and country games celebrated. Once 
in a year, at St. Mardrin's Well, two 
lame persons went on Corpus Christi 
evening to lay some small offering on 
the altar there, to lie on the ground all 
night, drink of the water there, and in 
the morning after take a good draught 



a Peregrinatio Religionis ergo, inter Colloquia, 
p. 377, seq. b Id. p. 362. 

c Hoare's Giraldus, i. 133, 198. 



more, and carry away some of the 
water each in a bottle at their depar- 
ture/ 1 At Muswell Hill was formerly 
a chapel called our Lady of Muswell, 
from a well there, near which was her 
image, that was continually resorted to 
by way of Pilgrimage. e At Walsingham 
a fine green road was made for the Pil- 
grims, and there was a holy well, and 
cross adjacent, at which Pilgrims used 
to kneel while drinking the water . f It 
is remarkable that the Anglo-Saxon 
laws had proscribed this, as idolatrous.? 
Such springs were consecrated, upon 
the discovery of cures effected by 
them. 11 In fact, these consecrated wells 
merely imply a knowledge of the pro- 
perties of mineral waters, but through 
ignorance, a religious appropriation of 
those properties to supernatural causes. 

Taylor, Index Monasticus, p. 66, has 
the following curious items : 

Saint Spyrite. Legacies were left in 
the old wills for persons to go in pil- 
primage to " St. Spyrite." 

St. Margaret of Horstede, Legacies 
were occasionally left to pay Pilgrims 
to repair to these images. 

The " good Swerd of Winferthinge." 
This sword was much visited by those 
whose goods had been stolen, and by 
wives, who prayed for the shortening 
of their husbands lives. 



d Antiq. Repertory, ii. 79. 

e Simpson's Agreeable Historian, ii. 622. 

f Beauties of England (old edition) ii. 118. 

s Brompton, X Script. 923. 

h Decern Scriptores, 2417. 



MOURNING PILGRIMAGES. 



361 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MOURNING PILGRIMAGES. — INCOGNITO PILGRIMAGES. POLITICAL PILGRIM- 
AGES. PILGRIMS ADVENTURERS. PILGRIMS AGAINST HERETICKS. 



Mourning Pilgrimages. Catherine, 

widow of Thomas (4th) Lord Berkeley 
in the 14th century, after the death of 
her husband, had a licence to take a 
journey beyond sea, for a year in Pil- 
grimage. Her lord^s grandfather's wife 
had before done the same. a The Earl 
of Stafford, in the ninth year of Richard 
the Second, made a pilgrimage to Je- 
rusalem, probably on account of the 
loss of his son, and died the ensuing 
year 3 at Rhodes, when on his return. b 

Incognito Pilgrims. Anselm Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, when banished 
by Rufus, took the scrip and staff of 
Pilgrims before the high altar in the 
Cathedral church of Canterbury, pre- 
vious to his journey. 

Fitzalan, when Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, and on an embassy to France, 
came to Valenciennes, stopped at the 
Swan Hotel in the Market Place, and 
having staid there three days to reco- 
ver himself, pursued his journey, not 
as Archbishop of Canterbury, but like 
a simple Monk on a pilgrimage ; thus 
concealing both his rank, and the bu- 
siness in which he was engaged. 01 

Agapit had married a relative of 
Pope Boniface, by whose order he was 
separated from his wife. In the Jubilee 
of the year 1300, he entered Rome, in 
the disguise of a Pilgrim, and saw her. e 
Cervantes mentions the return of 
Moors, by this disguise, into Spain, 
after expulsion upon pain of death. 

Political Pilgrimages. In the reign 
of John, Pilgrimages were made the 
vehicle of seditious meetings of the dis- 



a Smythe's Berkeley MS. 

b Froissart, vii. 70. c Eadmer, 41. 

^ Froissart, x. 115. 

- Memoires pour la Vie de Petrarque, i. 103. 



contented Barons. Many of them met 
at Edmundsbury under this pretence. f 

Pilgrims Adventurers. In the 12th 
century Gilbert Talbot, an English 
knight, assumed the habit of a Pilgrim, 
and sailed over into Normandy. He 
stopped there for two years, wander- 
ing here and there in search of Ela, 
Countess of Salisbury. Having found 
her, he dropped the Pilgrim's habit, 
and taking that of a Minstrel^ entered 
her court, and staid there. As he was 
a man of humour, and well versed in 
old Chronicles}^ he was received as an 
agreeable visitor, upon a familiar foot- 
ing, and when a proper time came, he 
brought the Countess with him into 
England, and presented her to King 
Richard, who most graciously received 
her, and married her to his brother^ 
William Longespee. 1 

Another Pilgrim Adventurer of in- 
ferior rank is before mentioned. 11 

Pilgrims against Hereticks. These 
were Crusaders against unfortunate 



f Smythe's Berkeley MS. 

s Minstrel, i. e. of a Jongleur or Troubadour. In 
the history of the latter, p. 338, is the following 
passage : " My lord said, I had a father, who was 
well accomplished ; he teas a marvellous singer, an 
agreeable and copious story-teller : I trust I resem- 
ble him." — Our storyteller, as a synonym for 
Liar, is derived from " great Janglers (Jongleurs), 
tale-tellers," &c. given in Chapter xii. 

h In the Liber Niger Domus Regis Edw. IV. 
is the following item : "These esquires of hous- 
hold of old be accustumed wynter and somer in 
aftyrnoones andin evenynges to draw to lordes cham- 
bres within courte, there to keep honest company 
after theyre cunning, in talking of cronycles of 
Kings and of other polycyes, or in pypeyng, or 
harping, singing or other actes martialles to help 
occupy the courte, and accompany straungers till 
the tyme of departing," p. 47. Knights errant 
learned the Histories of celebrated Knights and 
Ladies. S. Palave. 

1 Dugd. Monast. ii. 341,342. 

k Chapter vi. 



632 



MOURNING PILGRIMAGES. 



Dissenters from the Romish Church. 
The chief of these was against the Albi- 
genses. It was no more than a design 
for Simon de Montfort to acquire a 
great and powerful sovereignty, at the 
expence of the Earl of Toulouse and 
his family ; and for the Pope^s Legates 



to arrogate authority over the Lords 
and Burghs of these fine and unfortu- 
nate provinces. 3 It has no connexion 
with our subject, except in Costume. 

* Notices des MSS. a Paris, vi. 201 , 



LOVE-PILGRIMS. 



363 



CHAPTER XIV. 



LOVE-PILGRIMS. 



We are now arrived to Chivalry, 
that exquisite part of the History of 
the Middle Age, which is its brightest 
feature, because it inculcated the most 
heroic, tender, and benevolent senti- 
ments. Ours is a branch of Chivalry, 
romantic and noble ; unconnected with 
that degradation of character, which 
superstition always introduces. How- 
ever foolish were the Monkish fictions, 
and the absurd adventures of Chivalry, 
the Nobility and Gentry were too ig- 
norant to see their absurdity ; and 
Chivalry, by the romantick deeds of 
arms, which it daily presented, so 
turned their heads, that the more ex- 
traordinary and absurd were romances 
of adventurers, the more they were in 
vogue. All this is ridiculed in the Dit 
d'Aventures, a Manuscript of the thir- 
teenth century, written in the manner 
of Munchausen, long before the time 
of Cervantes : a to whom it probably 
suggested his excellent Don Quixote. 
We are not therefore to be surprised 
at the following singular exhibitions of 
a prevailing mania of Chivalrous he- 
roism. 

Some young knights bachelors had 
one of their eyes covered with a piece 
of cloth, so that they could not see 
with it, for they had made a vow to 
some ladies not to use but one eye, 
until they had performed some deeds 
of arms, nor would they make any re- 
ply to whatsoever question was asked 
them. b Another lover, smitten with a 
lady of Carcassovvne, called Louve de 
Penautier, caused himself to be called 
Loup or Wolf in her honour, and en- 
gaged himself to submit to all the pe- 
rils of being hunted in a wolfs skin 
for her sake. In this disguise, the 



■ Notices des MSS. v. 398. 
b Froissart, i. 114. 



shepherds, with their mastives and 
greyhounds, drove him into the moun- 
tains, and pursued him there; and so 
cruelly was he mangled, for he would 
not suffer the dogs to be taken off him, 
till they had almost killed him, that 
they carried him home for dead to his 
mistress. 

The explanation of these customs^ 
and of those which will conclude this 
Chapter, by M. Porte-du-Theil, are 
admirable : " In all ages, and among all 
civilized nations,love, like the other pas- 
sions, has borrowed the forms and the 
language which, according to the man- 
ners and customs of the time, appeared 
to it most proper to express its senti- 
ments towards the beloved object. 
When the inhabitants of all Europe 
were divided into masters and slaves^ 
the metaphorical language of love was 
borrowed from the ideas of Slavery : 
and this first foundation of amorous 
language subsists to the present day. 

" When the feudal system was 
established, and vassalage superseded 
slavery, the ideas and forms of feodality 
were applied to love. The mistress 
called her lover her Baron,and he styled 
her his Lady. He demanded of his 
mistress the mouth and the hands in 
the form of homage. A Troubadour of 
the twelfth century, compares his mis- 
tress to a freehold which paid no rents 
or services, to which he wishes should 
be at least attached, the payment of 
some kisses. Love assumed the cha- 
racter as well as the language of vas- 
salage; its respective obligations were 
reduced to rules ; the acknowledged 
lover had his rights recognised ; he 
owed to his lady fidelity and services ; 
she, to him, attachment and favours. 

" In the mean while the Feudal sys- 

c Hist, of the Troubadours, 332. 



364 



LOVE-PILGRIMS. 



tern was brought to bed of Chivalry. 
Private wars, the unfortunate results 
of feudal rights, had turned all minds 
towards arms. The Lords, obliged to 
defend, without ceasing, their own 
possessions, and those of their vassals, 
were occupied only with military ideas ; 
they carried them even into their love 
affairs . 

" Chivalry, founded at the same 
time for a proof and reward of valour 
and generosity, imposed upon itself, as 
its principal duty, the protection of 
the ladies ; and gallantry became, 
almost as much as braverv, the distinc- 
tive character of a knight. To form 
the eulogium of an accomplished 
knight, it was said, that no one better 
understood to break a lance, and kiss 
a lady. 

" The Crusades had redoubled the 
heroism of the knights, by a kind of 
enthusiasm, mingled with ideas of 
glory and religion, which incited them 
to the most hazardous enterprises. 
This enthusiasm immediately laid hands 
upon Love. They devoted themselves 
for their mistresses to the most peril- 
ous, and sometimes the most bizarre 
attempts. If an opportunity did not 
offer, they created one. They main- 
tained, with arms in their hands, that 
the woman whom they loved was the 
most beautiful in the world, and they 
found knights who accepted the chal- 
lenge. Nothing was so common as 
this proof of love in the thirteenth 
century. They wished to appear the 
most brave, as well as the most ena- 
moured, because valour, carried to ex- 
cess, was then the quality most fitted 
to make themselves beloved in re- 
turn ; the ladies became fond of a 
knight upon the mere recital of his 
exploits. Chivalry had so ennobled 
love, that it had rendered it a passion 
purely heroick. In the Roman de Rose, 8 - 
it is affirmed, that the knights were 
more estimable, and the ladies lived 
better and more chastely : 



MS. fol. 80. 



6 Les chevaliers mieux en valoient, 
Les Dames meilleures etoient 
Et plus chastement en vivoient.' 
" Far from regarding Love as a 
criminal passion, they associated it 
with the ideas and practices of devo- 
tion. A Troubadour of the thir- 
teenth century said, that he burned 
tapers, and caused masses to be said 
for the success of his love. The mis- 
tress of the Lord of Craon, when 
upon her death-bed ready to receive 
the Sacrament, called God to witness, 
' that Craon had never made a request 
to her, which her father might not have 
made ; non, dit elle, qit'il ne couchdt en 
mon lit, mais a fin sans vilence et sans 
mat y penser.^ Notwithstanding, Love 
was not always thus pure, even in the 
times when this passion was carried to 
its highest point of heroism. It be- 
came debased insensibly. In the fif- 
teenth century Eustace des Champs 
often complained, that luxury had efri- 
minated the knights; that they thought 
to please more by their dress, than by 
their exploits and virtues ; and that 
gallantry as well as Chivalry was 
strangely declined. Notwithstanding, 
in this century, they still fought, Na- 
tion against Nation, for the honour of 
the ladies, as in 1402 did seven French 
knights against seven English knights. 
fi In the end all this heroism was 
eclipsed, Brantome says, that in the 
16th century, Love was no more than 
libertinism. It was the age of devices 
and amorous emblems. Afterwards, 



b Agnes de Navarre, wife of Phoebus, Count de 
Foix, was in love with William de Machaut, one 
of the best French poets, of the age of Petrarch. 
She made verses for him, which breathed the lan- 
guage of passion. She wished him to publish in 
his own the details of their love. He was jealoui 
without a cause ; she sent her Confessor to him, 
to testify not only the truth of the sentiments 
which she had for him, but further, her fidelity, 
and the injustice of the suspicion which he had 
conceived against her. Notwithstanding this, 
Agnes de Navarre was a very virtuous Princess. 
IMem. pour la Vie de Petrarque, i. 118. F. 

c Classical symbols and mottoes derived from the 
chiefs of the Neapolitan wars, in the close of the 
fifteenth century, and common in England in the 
next. Dallaway's Heraldic Inquiries, p. 391. Sir 
Philip Sydney's works abound in them. Edit. 10. 



LOVE-PILGRIMS, 



365 



from this period, we hear no more of 
heroick Loves. Devout Loves still 
existed, when the general manners 
icore the livery of devotion; then 
lovers, in pious processions, whipped 
themselves,, by way of gallantry, under 
the windows of their mistresses. Men 
carried, in their Breviaries, under the 
figure of the Virgin Mary, the portrait 
of the woman w T hom they loved : and 
the women had that of their lovers, 
under the representation of Christ or 
some Saint. 

" From the whole of this discussion, 
it appears that Love was simple and 
tender in the tenth century ; severe 
and impassioned in the eleventh ; that 
it participated of the heroick or su- 
]Derstitious enthusiasm of the three 
following centuries ; and sometimes 
elevated itself even to a virtue ; but in 
the fifteenth century declined, till it was 
almost always a vice, and scarcely a 
passion ; in the sixteenth century, the 
spirit, which mingled with it, was subtle 
and cold; the ideas of piety, which 
were allied with it from time to time, 
instead of warming and ennobling it, 
as before, completed its degradation 
by introducing all the meannesses 
of superstition and hypocrisy. The 
other forms, which it has taken in the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
show that it has constantly followed 
the modifications of society. Thus, 
Love, in all times subject to fashion, 
which seems to have so little empire 
over the passions, has always under- 
gone the same variations as exterior 
manners and customs." a 

Pleasure and courtship are still lead- 
ing habits of the modern military; 
and, without doubt, derive their origin 
from the feudal ages. 

This curious and interesting history 
of courtship, explains the Petrarchism, 
or heroic love, which characterized the 
Pilgrimages of the Troubadours , a term 



p. 30, 62, 179, 180, &c. Some Augustin Monks 
in Flanders represented the whole life of that Saint 
in a series of these impressions. Sylloge Symbolor. 
&c. by Menestrier, p. 355. See Camden's Remains. 
a Notices des MSS. v. p. 695, seq. 



derived from trobar to invent, because 
they sung extemporaneous effusions, 
or pretended to do so, Petrarch com- 
plaining of their application to him for 
assistance. They were natives of the 
South of France, who, being stimu- 
lated by their genius, and the warmth 
of the climate, to poetry, musick, and 
Love, were, as President Henault styles 
them, the knights errant of gallantry, 
travelling from castle to castle, singing 
and making love. b 

Accordingly one of them says, " The 
beauty I adore shall behold me, for her 
sake, clad in a woollen habit, and with 
a pilgrim's staff." c 

The following account of one of these 
Pilgrims is singularly curious : " It was 
in the month of October, I well re- 
member, I ordered two of my pages to 
take two falcons, and the third a goss- 
hawk, the best that ever was, with 
dogs and hares. We were ten knights 
well mounted, and all eager for the 
chace. At the moment of our depar- 
ture, behold, there came to us a knight 
in the habit of a Pilgrim. He was the 
most beautiful and elegant figure that 
was ever seen in the robe of penitence. 
He advanced with slow steps, as if 
overwhelmed with fatigue, and he hung 
down his head as if plunged in sorrow. 
When he was come up to me, without 
any salutation, or speaking a single 
word, he took my horse by the bridle, 
drew me aside, and, casting on me a look 
of tender sorrow, he paused a moment 
from the fullness of his grief. At last he 
said, e For the sake of God, my Lord,have 
pity on my state. I come from a dis- 
tant country to ask your council in love; 
for you are the only man in the world 
capable of giving me advice. I love a 
lady, as excellent for virtues as re- 
nowned for beauty. I have used every 
effort, and cannot obtain her love. I 
know not what to do ; in pity teach me 
how I ought to act. My Pilgrimage has 
no other object, but to seek instruction in 
Love.' 



b Memoires pour la Vie de Petrarque, i. 77. 
c Hist, of the Troubadours, p. 50. 



366 



LOVE-PILGRIMS. 



Ci At these words, I said to my Ba- 
rons, permit me to put off our party to 
another day; for at present, I must 
converse of joy and pleasure with this 
young stranger, and our discourse must 
be private. Immediately dismounting 
from my horse, I took the unknown 
knight by the hand, and conducting 
him in, I begged him to defer our con- 
versation till the morrow, that I might 
have time to reflect on his situation, 
and be able to give him the advice he 
stood in need of. But I would know, 
added I, to whom I speak, that I may 
form some judgment of the advice I 
ought to give. His answer was as 
courteous as my request ; and when I 
heard his name, I held him in great 
esteem. After he was refreshed, he 
sat down to play at chess and draughts. 
We sung songs, and told a thousand 
tales, a till sunset ; when they informed 
us, that supper was served in the great 
hall, where many guests were assem- 
bled. After supper, as our new guest 
wanted repose, we all retired to rest. 
After a sound sleep, we rose, the Priest 
having summoned us to mass. b After 
mass was said, we went to the dinner, 
which Bidans my constable had served 
up ; it was good, and we were long at 
table. At last I rose, and taking the 
stranger by the hand, we left the com- 
pany in the hall, and went down into 
an orchard, where I seated him under 
a laurel tree, by my side. Then, ad- 
dressing myself to him, I said, Friend, 
what you desire of me I wish I may 
be able to grant. You will find in me 
neither much knowledge nor skill, but 
courtesy, courage, and joy ; and it is in 
those > the most illustrious lovers of all 



a If a Jugleur or Minstrel was not present, our 
ancestors used to sit round the fire, and tell an- 
cient gests or stories. Warton. Gesta Romanorum, 
lxiv. Hence the numerous collections of Tales, 
which we have in Manuscript. 

b Froissart (ii. 157-) mentions an oratory of the 
Black Prince near his bed-chamber, where mass 
was said the first thing in the morning, sometimes 
before sun-rise (Id. ii. 135), even in the bed- 
chambers. 

c It appears to have been usual to take exercise 
in the garden, after Mass, or in the morning. 
Stowe's Annals, 500, 535. Ed, Howes. 



times have excelled. Remember well 
what I am going to say, and you will 
surpass all others in Love. Be always 
dressed neatly and elegantly, whether 
your cloaths are rich or plain. Let 
your linen be very fine and white ; let 
your shoes, your stockings, and your 
waistcoast, be so well adjusted, that all 
who behold, shall admire you ; let your 
robe be rather short than long ; let it be 
made wide before ; the breast can then 
be left open without any impropriety. 
Let your cloak be of the same stuff; and 
let the girdle and the clasp be neatly 
fastened. Nothing gives a man so much 
advantage as the beauty of his hair; 
wash your head often; wear not your hair 
too long ; it is more becoming to have 
it somewhat shortened. Your whiskers 
and beard ought also to be neatly cut ; 
it were better they were too short than 
too long ; but no excess of fashion is 
ever becoming ; be particularly atten- 
tive to that. By the eyes and the hands 
a man is often judged : there should be 
a dignity and delicacy in both. Never 
fix your eyes, with a saucy assurance 
and effrontery, on any: and let your 
hands be placed with decency and care. 
If you see any one with something in 
their hands you wish to look at, and 
which strikes you with admiration 
never be guilty of such unpoliteness 
as to take it from him to gratify your 
own curiosity. If you would gain the 
hearts of ladies, you must be magnifi- 
cent in your house; you must have 
^squires to attend you ; you must have 
two in particular, who are handsome, 
and who know how to please : the rest 
need only to be courteous and polite ; 
but they must converse with grace and 
with discretion, that if you send them 
any where, they may not incur the 
laugh at your expense, and it be said 
of them, ' like master like man/ When 
you receive company, show great kind- 
ness to all you receive ; invite them to 
make good cheer; let them be well 
served, and set them the example of 
gaiety and freedom. None will fre- 
quent you, if your house wears the face 
of poverty, and they do not meet with 
plenty and hospitality. When the day 



LOVE-PILGRIMS. 



367 



appears, do not set yourself at the table 
to eat alone : nothing is more unpolite. 
Place your guests near you in a neat 
apartment. Do the honours of your 
table not only yourself, but be careful 
your attendants are assiduous in the 
service ; and let the fire be well re- 
plenished. Recommend in particular 
to your servants, that they never come 
in, and interrupt the repast, by whis- 
pering in your ear. Be careful also 
never to speak to them in a low voice ; 
this has the air of poverty and stingi- 
ness. Before you place yourself at 
table, give all your orders for the day 
as to wine, lights, and other accommo- 
dation. Take care, that the horses, 
the attendants, and grooms of your 
guests, have all they want ; for if they 
have not plenty of provision, you will 
hear murmurs shamefully reproaching 
to a gallant knight. 

u If you hold a court or assembly, 
spare for nothing. Let there be no 
gate locked at the entrance of your 
house ; no porters a to keep back with 
their staves, the grooms, pages, hangers- 
on, and Jongleurs, who would enter. 
Do not follow the example of those 
rich misers, who retire secretly from 
their feasts. Heaven forbid, you should 
be the first to quit the company, when 
you ought to be the last. Your house 
ought to be open to all the world, and 
you ready to receive, at all hours, those 
who shall present themselves. Play 
high ; it will do you honour; continue 
playing. It is shameful and base to 
take up the dice, and leave off imme- 
diately. If you should lose, express 



a Porter. " Here a Porter, tall of person, big of 
limbs, stark of countenance, with club and keys of 
quantity according, in a rough speech, full of pas- 
sion in metre, while the Queen [Elizabeth] came 
within his ward, burst out in a great pang of impa- 
tience to see such uncouth trudging to and fro ; 
such riding in and out, with such din and noise of 
talk, within his charge ; whereof he never saw the 
like, nor had any warning once; ne yet could make 
to himself any cause of the matter. At last, upon 
better view and aduertisement, he proclaims open 
gates and free passage to all ; yields over his club, 
his keys, his office, and all, and on his knees, hum- 
bly prays pardon of his ignorance, and impatience : 
which her Highness graciously granting," &c. 
Hurd's Dialogues, 98. 



no ill-humour; change not your place, 
nor clap your hands together, like an 
enraged man, nor give any signs of dis- 
pleasure ; for if you do, you will be 
made a jest of. In short, spend your 
fortune in a generous and hospitable 
reception of all the world. Unless you 
do this, you must for ever renounce 
gallantry. Be well mounted ; have a 
horse light and nimble for the course ; 
easy to manage, and have it continually 
led in your train. Let your arms be 
bright, and valuable; and let your lance, 
your shield, and your cuirass, be well 
proved. Let your horse be well equip- 
ped, in saddle, bridle, and breast-lea- 
thers ; let the saddle and crupper be 
of the same colour with your shield, 
and the streamer of your lance. Have 
a war-horse to carry a change of arms. b 

" The reason I recommend these 
things, is, that if you have not prepared 
them in readiness and set them in or- 
der, on the first injury done you, on 
the first war that happens, you will be 
obliged to seek them, with precipita- 
tion ; and ladies are never fond of those 
knights who are not always ready for 
war and tournaments. They will pre- 
fer those who seize every occasion of 
procuring fame and honour. 

" If my exhortations do not weary 
you, I would recommend to you the 
love of Chivalry, and to attach your- 
self to the means of pleasing univer- 
sally. Be vigilant against all unfore- 
seen attacks ; fear neither cry nor mur- 
mur; be the last in retreat, and the 
first in charge; for such is the man 
who is conducted by Love. 

" When you are at the tournament, 
have a halbert and a helmet in change; 
your steel-armour, and your sword, 
which you must brandish to animate 
your horse. Let his breast be garnish- 
ed with bells well hung; nothing is 
more proper to inspire confidence in a 
Knight, and terror in an enemy. Put 
up with no loss, nor damage ; and re- 



b Two horses generally accompanied Knights, a 
Hackney, and a Charger, that the latter might not 
be wearied, upon coming into action. Numerous 
instances occur in Froissart. 



368 



LOVE-PILGRIMS. 



turn not without some engagement. 
When once your arm is raised, if your 
lance fails, draw your sword directly, 
and let heaven and hell resound with 
the clash. Thus have I levelled my 
strokes since I was a knight, and thus 
have I possessed the love of many beau- 
tiful and worthy ladies.^ a 

The old Knight was correct in his 

a Hist, of the Troubadours, 471 — 475. 



advice. In a satirical catalogue of a 
pretended Museum, one article is " The 
skin of the Serpent which seduced Eve." 
A lady said, the colour of it must cer- 
tainly be scarlet. The favouritism shown 
to officers, may be enough to convince, 
that bravery, attention to person, cour- 
teous manners, pleasurable habits, and 
living in style, are the methods, which 
experience proves, to be best suited to 
procure success in Love. 



THE OFFICP; OF PILGRIMS IN THE CHURCH OF ROUEN. 369 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE OFFICE OF PILGRIMS IN THE CHURCH OF ROUEN. 



The following account shews a de- 
duction of Pilgrimage from the journey 
of the Disciples to Emmaus, 

The Office of Pilgrims ought to be 
done in this form. Two of the second 
stalls who may be put in the table, at 
the pleasure of the writer, shall be 
clothed in a Tunick, with copes above, 
carrying staves across, and scrips in 
the manner of Pilgrims ; and they shall 
have capelli 3 - over their heads, and be 
bearded. Let them go from the Ves- 
tiary, singing a hymn, " Jesus, our re- 
de mption," advancing with a slow step, 
through the right aisle of the Church, 
as far as the Western gates, and there 
stopping, sing a hymn, as far as that 
place, " You shall be satisfied with thy 
likeness/' Then a certain Priest of the 
higher stall, written in the table, cloth- 
ed in an Alb and Amess, bare-footed, 
carrying a cross upon his right shoul- 
der, with a look cast downwards, com- 
ing to them through the right aisle of 
the Church, shall suddenly stand be- 
tween them, and say, " What are these 
discourses/' The Pilgrims, as it were 
admiring, and looking upon him, shall 
say, "Are you a stranger," &c. The 
Priest shall answer, " In what ?" The 
Pilgrims shall answer, " of Jesus of 
Nazareth." The Priest, looking upon 
both of them, shall say, " O fools, and 
slow of heart," which being said, the 
Priest immediately shall retire and pre- 
tend to be going further : but the Pil- 

» A Hat or Bonnet. Du Cange. 



grims hurrying up, and following him, 
shall detain him, as it were inviting 
him to their inn, and drawing him with 
their staves, shall show him a castle, 
and say, " Stay with us." And so sing- 
ing, they shall lead him as far as a tent 
in the middle of the nave of the Church, 
made in the resemblance of the Castle 
Emmaus. When they have ascended 
thither, and sat at a table ready pre- 
pared, the Lord sitting between them 
shall break the bread ; and being dis- 
covered by this means, shall suddenly 
retire, and vanish from their sight. 
But they amazed, as it were, rising with 
their countenances turned to each other, 
shall sing lamentably " Alleluia," with 
the verse, " Did not our heart burn," 
&c. which being renewed, turning them- 
selves towards the stall, they shall sing 
this verse, "Tell us, Mary." Then a 
certain person of the higher stall, cloth- 
ed in a Dalmatick and Amess, and 
bound round in the manner of a wo- 
man, shall answer, "The Sepulchre of 
Christ; the Angels are witnesses." 
Then he shall extend, and unfold a 
cloth from one part, instead of clothes, 
and throw it before the great gate of 
the Choir. Afterwards he shall say 
"Christ is risen." The Choir shall 
sing two other verses, following, and 
then the Master shall go within; a 
procession be made ; and Vespers be 
ended. b 

b Du Cange, v. Peregrinorum Officium* 



2b 



CONSUETUDINAL 



OF 



ANCHORETS AND HERMITS 



The Hermits of Egypt dragged out 
a wretched life in perfect solitude, and 
were scattered here and there in caves, 
in deserts, in the hollows of rocks, 
sheltered from the wild beasts only by 
the cover of a miserable cottage, in 
which each one lived sequestered from 
the rest of his species. 

Philo-Judssus, A.D.41, was the first 
who introduced the Philosophy of 
Plato and Pythagoras into the Gospel. 
As he lived at Alexandria in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Desert, and gives (it 
is believed) the earliest account of the 
contemplative life of worshippers, Eu- 
sebius shews that the figures and hie- 
roglyphics of the Egyptian Philosophy 
are verified and manifested in the Scrip- 
tures. a 

The order of the Anachorites was 
yet more excessive in the austerity of 
living than the -Eremites. They fre- 
quented the wildest deserts, without 
either tents or cottages ; nourished 
themselves with the roots and herbs 
which grew spontaneously out of the 
uncultivated ground ; wandered about, 
without having any fixed abode; and 
reposed wherever the approach of night 
happened to find them. 1 * 

The origin of that curious supersti- 
tion, the habitation on a pillar by Si- 
meon Stylites, is thus given in Christie's 
Greek Vases, p. 99 : 

"The ancient temple at Hierapolis 



Euseb. S.ii. c.41. 17, 13. 
Mosheini, i. p. 199. cent. 4. 



in Syria ( Lucian de Bed Syria) _ is re- 
ported to have stood upon an eminence 
in the middle of the city, the base of 
which eminence was enclosed by a 
double wall. Near the gates to the 
North were erected two phalli (of the 
enormous height of thirty fathoms), 
one of which a man ascended twice 
every year, swarming (sic) it by a 
chain, as was practised by the Arabs 
in climbing the palm-trees of their 
country. Arrived at the top, he coiled 
his clothes so as to form a nest or seat, 
and having let down another chain, 
which he carried with him, and drawn 
up by the means of it food and neces- 
saries, he remained upon the phallus 
seven days. Seated aloft, he prayed 
for all Syria ; but whilst he prayed, he 
rang a bell." 

Perhaps the first instance of relicks 
being held in reverence was in the case 
of Simeon Stylites, whom the people 
of Antioch thought Leo the Emperor 
left among them for their defence 
against enemies. 

The distinction of Anchorets and 
Hermits was quite different in the suc- 
ceeding ages. The former were persons 
who passed their whole lives in cells, 
from which they never moved. The 
latter were indeed solitary persons, but 
wandered about at liberty. These be- 
ing the respective definitions of An- 
chorets and Hermits/ the subject shall 
be treated accordingly. 



e Evagr. b. i. c. 1. 
d Heremitse solivagi 



aut Anachoritse conclusi 



COXSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AXD HERMITS. 



Anchorets. (i In the first ages of 
Monachism, the custom was introduced 
in certain Abbies, of choosing some one 
of the religious, whom they thought 
most advanced in perfection, and of 
shutting him up apart, on purpose that 
he might be able for the rest of his life 
to indulge without distraction in the 
contemplation of divine things. Com- 
monly the cell was near the Church, 
placed in such a manner that the re- 
cluse had the faculty of seeing the Altar, 
and hearing the service. The door 
was locked upon him, often even wall- 
ed up, but they left a kind of garret 
window, by which he received the com- 
munion and the necessaries of life."' 

The same custom existed in female 
convents ; there were even many in- 
stances of men who became Anchorets 
in Xunneries, and of women in xlbbies 
of Monks. a 

(i Particular ceremonies were esta- 
blished for these solitaries. Gregorv of 
Tours describes those which were in 
use in his agra." 

ei Many Councils, and particularlv 
that of 6'92, which is called of Trullo/ b 
that of Frankfort in 7^7, an( i others, 
treated of this kind of life, and endea- 
voured to modify and confine it to rules 
and forms." 5 

Charlemagne forbade it, but the abuse 
still prevailed. There were even Ab- 
bies, such as that of Vallombreuse, for 
example, where they supported a per- 

(i. e. Hermits, solitary wanderers, or Anchorets, 
immured). Angl. Sacr. ii. 436. De Foe makes 
the same distinction in Robinson Crusoe. 

a Helyot. Ordr. Monastiques Disc. Prelim. 

b The" Trullan Canons say : " They who affect 
to be Anchorets, shall first for three years be con- 
fined to a cell in a Monastery ; and if, after this, 
they profess that they persist, let them be examined 
by the Bishop or Abbot ; let them live one year at 
large ; and if they still approve of their first choice, 
let them be confined to their cell, and not be per- 
mitted to go out of it, but by consent and benedic- 
tion of the Bishop in case of great necessity. 1 ' 
Canon 41. 

" Hermits who stroll up and down in towns in 
black habits and long hair, and converse freely with 
both sexes, shall be either shorn and go into some 
Monastery, or be driven into the Wilderness, from 
whence they have their names." Canon 42. 

There are strong anathemas against Anchorets 
in the Gangran Canons. Canon 9. 17. 

Johnson's Eastern Canons, 83, 85, 274, 275. F. 



petual Anchorage, uninterruptedly oc- 
cupied by a religious, who voluntarily 
secluded himself. The penitent not 
only vowed eternal silence, but abso- 
lutelv saw no person but the brother 
by whose hands he received his nou- 
rishment.^ c 

" Towards the end of the ninth cen- 
turv, a certain person named Grimlaic 
made a rule for those who wished to 
adopt this anachoretical life. By this 
rule, their cells were to be near a 
church, but it was permitted to them 
to join to it a small garden. Many 
might even dwell too-ether in one com- 
mon enclosure, and even have commu- 
nication by a window, provided that 
every cell was separate. They lived 
there, either by the labour of their 
hands or by alms, or by what the neigh- 
bouring monasteries bestowed. Their 
dress was a frock. Notwithstanding, 
if they were Priests, they used a cope, 
and had the right of confessing. There 
were some of them who brought up 
disciples, but these lived out of the 
common enclosure, and the candidates, 
after a certain time of noviciate and 
trial, were obliged to become Anchorets 
in their turn."' d [M. D'Aussy has 
omitted the dreadful task in Grimlaic's 
Rule of learning the gospels, and other 
Scriptures by heart.] 

" The Bishop performed the cere- 
mony of seclusion. He put his seal 
upon the Anchorage, which could not 
be removed but when the recluse had 
need of assistance, or was sick."' e 

Thus M. Le Grand D'Aussy. That 
all this was purely Egyptian, will ap- 
pear from the legend of Thaysis, a 
prostitute, converted by the Abbot 
Pafuncius. "She went to the place 
whiche th' abbot had assygned to her. 
And there was amonasterye of vyrgyns, 
and there he closed her in a celle, and 
sealed the door with led. And the celle 



c Vallombreuse is situated in the Apennines, not 
far from Florence. Upon the hills around are her- 
mitages occupied by religious, who lead a very 
austere life, according to the Benedictine Rule. F. 

d C. 64. The Rule is printed in Holstein's 
Codex. 

e Notices des MSS. v. p. 287, 288. 
2 B 2 



372 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS. 



was lytyli and strayte, and but one 
lytell wyndowe open, by whiche was 
mynistred to her poor lyvinge: For the 
abbot commaunded that they shold 
gyve to her a lytill bred© and water. 
And whan th 5 abbot sholde departe, 
Thaysis sayde to him, fader, where 
shall I shedde the water, and that 
whyche shall come fro the conduytes 
of nature. And he sayde to her, in thy 
celle, as thou art worthy. And thenne 
she demaunded how she sholde praye : 
and he answered ; thou art not worthy 
to name God, ne that the name of the 
Trynite be in thy mouth, ne stratche 
thy hondes too heven by cause thyn 
lippes ben full of Inyquytes and thyn 
hondes full of evil altouchinges andfoule 
ordures"* Thus the last sentence 
shows how she was to extricate herself 
from a most annoying embarrassment 
of her situation. 

In [Rader's] Rule of the Solitaries, 13 
the Cell of an Anchoret is to be of 
stone, 12 feet long, and as many broad, 
with three windows, one opposite the 
Choir, by which the sacrament was re- 
ceived ; the second for admitting food ; 
the third, light, which was to be closed 
with horn or glass. 

Osbern, in his Life of Dunstan, men- 
tions the Destina (for so these anchor- 
holds or stalls affixed to larger build- 
ings were called), occupied by Dunstan 
soon after he became a Monk. It was 
annexed to the Church of the Virgin 
Mary at Glastonbury, where he had 
been professed. Osbern says, he scarcely 
knew what to call it, whether a Cell, or 
Destina, or Cave, since it was made by 
Dunstan's own hands, and more re- 
sembled a Sepulchre than a human ha- 
bitation. For to bear testimony, he 
says, of a thing which he had himself 
seen, the length, as far as his estima- 
tion went, could not be more than five 
feet, and the breadth, two feet and a 
half. Further, the depth was about 
the height of a man, supposing any 
one was standing in a pit, otherwise it 



a Golden Legend, f. clxxx. b. 

b C. 16. A Bavarian Rule. 

c By Bede, 1. 3. c. 17. Wharton's note. 



would not reach up to the breast ; and 
from hence it is plain, that he slept 
lying, and always prayed to God stand- 
ing. The door formed one whole side. 
In the midst of the door was a small 
window, which gave light to the person 
at work within ; for Dunstan was a ca- 
pital goldsmith.* 1 Thus it appears, that 
the habitation resembled a cobbler 's stall , e 
in point of fact. From these origins, 
there arose regular anchor-holds or an- 
chor-houses annexed to Abbatial or Pa- 
rochial Churches. f Some Anchorets 
were even placed in Churches to look 
after them.? Alms boxes were annex- 
ed to them. Piers Plowman says, 

i( Ne in ancres there a box hangeth." 
Fol. lxxx. 

They were the great emporia of the 
village news, h an abuse quite foreign 
to the institution. 

It was strictly enacted, that no An- 
chorets or Anchoresses should be put 
in any place, 1. without the special 
license of the Diocesan, 2. due consi- 
deration of the situation, 3. quality of 
the person, and, 4. means of support. 
The first article, as commented by 
Lyndwood, shows that Monks might 
become Hermits by license of the Ab- 
bot, but not Anchorets. The second 
refers to the place, whether it was near 
any church, or far separated from it; 
whether it were in the city or in the 
country; because there was a more 
speedy provision for such a recluse in 
his wants in the city than in the coun- 
try, where the inhabitants in general 
were poor. It was also to be consi- 
dered, whether it was near any Monas- 
tery, by whose alms the Anchoret could 
be supported. The quality of the per- 

d Angl. Sacr. ii. 96. 

e I use this term because it is ancient. Domitian 
removed the stalls which blocked up the streets of 
Rome (Mart. vii. 60) ; and the Acts of S. Ber- 
trand say, " He was sitting in his stall, as is the 
custom of the shoemakiny trade." Du Cange, v. 
Scapinus. 

f Weever's Fun. Monum. 150. 

e Parker's Norwich, 259. 

h Vrom mulne (mill), and vrom chepyng (mar- 
ket), vrom smid'de' (smith's shop), and vrom an- 
crehuse, men tidinge bringeth. MS. Cot. Nero, 
A. xiv. f. 21. a. 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS, 



373 



son regarded his profession, whether 
religious or secular, clerk or layman, 
young or old. The means of his sup- 
port was to be regarded, because, if he 
had not property of his own, or being 
a Monk, had claims upon his house, 
he could not well be included in one 
spot ; and the Bishop was to look into 
this, because otherwise the Anchoret 
might be starved to death, or the Bi- 
shop be compelled to support him, in 
the manner of a clerk, ordained with- 
out a title.* At St. Augustine's Can- 
terbury, Anchorets were not to be 
made, except by the Ordinary, nor by 
the Ordinary without consent of the 
Abbot. b 

Anchor-holds were not, however, al- 
ways near cities or churches. Goluen- 
nus chose a place for himself near the 
shore, most fit for divine contempla- 
tion, and built there a small house 
square in the form of an oratory, which, 
in the language of the Britons, is call- 
ed Peniti, that is, the house of Peni- 
tence, or of a Penitent. There Goluen- 
nus shut himself up within the pre- 
cincts of the Penititium. In the acts 
of St. Goeznoveus, MS. it is said, that 
he built an oratory in a grove, near a 
river, in a place four miles distant from 
a city, which place was called Peniti- 
tium S. Goeznovei. c Guthlack went to 
a retired spot, and the remains of his 
chapel are still called Anchor -church- 
houseA He is said to have been our 
first Anchoret. e 

The ceremony of including an An- 
choret was as follows. He was to be 
advised by the Bishop, or some other 
priest, to examine his conscience, whe- 
ther he acted from piety sincere or 
feigned ; and, if the answer was favour- 
able, the Priest was, by the order of 
the Bishop, to shut him up. Provi- 
sion was first to be made for his con- 



a Lynd. 214, 215. »> Lewis's Thanet, 48. 

c Du Cange, v. Peniti. 

d Second Appendix to the History of Croyland 
(Bibl. Topogr. Brit.), vol. III. p. 287. 

e Fecerunt quandum domum super solum Re- 
gis, in qua qugedam Anachorita modo inhabitat 
quae Talet p' annum, &c. Rot. Pari. i. 419. a° 
1324 and 5. 

The site was " Le Droynes de Loundres," 



fession, and that, on the day preceed- 
ing the ceremony, he received the re- 
fection of bread and water. On the 
night following he passed devout vigils 
in the Church nearest the Hermitage. 
On the morrow, after an exhortation 
to the people and the Anchoret, the 
Priest began a responsory ; and, upon 
the conclusion of it, prostrated himself 
with his ministers, before the step of 
the altar, and said certain psalms. Af- 
ter these, the mass was celebrated in 
the neighbouring church, and an espe- 
cial prayer said for the Anchoret. Af- 
ter the gospel, he offered a taper, which 
was to burn upon the altar at the mass/ 
The Anchoret then read the schedule 
of his profession (which consisted only 
of the vows of obedience, chastity, and 
stedfastness),s at the step of the altar ; 
and, if he was a layman, the priest read 
it for him. He then made a sign of his 
intention, and offered it upon the altar 
kneeling. The priest consecrated the 
habit, and sprinkled that and the An- 
choret with holy water. Then followed 

f Qualiter hii qui in ordine anachoritarum de- 
beant se habere, sequencia secundum usum Sarum 
declarabunt. Non oportet quenquam inclusum, 
fieri sine episcopo constitutum ; ut ab episcopo, aut 
ab aliquo alio presbytero, radietur ac moneatur, 
quatinus ipse devotus suam conscientiam scrute- 
tur, viz. utrum bona an mala sanctitate appetit, 
&c. quod cum se pro regno Dei, &c. includat eum 
sacerdos jussu episcopi. Imprimis, provideat sibi 
qui includendus est, quod de omnibus peccatis suis 
qua? suae memorise occurrere possunt sit bene con- 
fessus. Et quod in die diem inclusionis prsece- 
dente pane et aqua, turn reficiatur. In nocte inse- 
quente in ecclesia inclusario suo vicina cum suo 
csereo accenso devote mseroribus vigiliarum tene- 
tur. In crastino facta exhortacione ad populum 
et ad eum qui est includendus sacerdos incipiat hoc 
modo responsorium, &o. Functo hoc cum suo 
clerico,* prosternat se sacerdos cum suis ministris 
ante gradum altaris, et dicant hos psalmos ; his 
dictis incipiatur missa de quocunque voluerit quae 
celebrabitur in ecclesia, juxta quam includi debeat, 
et ad eandem missam dicatur hsec oratio specialiter 
pro includendo. Post Evangelium offerat inclu- 
dendus cereum qui super altare ad missam semper 
ardeat. Postea net-p includendus ad gradum al- 
taris et legat .... professionem suam. MS. 
Harl. 873. f. 18- 25. a. 

s Non ancre bi mine rede ne schal makien pro- 
fessiun, that is, behoten ase hest bute three thinges, 
that beoth obedience, chastete, and studestathel- 
vestnesse .... obedience of hire bischope other 
(or) of hire herre (lord). MS. Cott. Nero, A. xiv. 
f, 2. 



Or choro. 



t Or fuerit. 



374 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS 



mass and litany ; after which they 
went in procession to the hermitage. 
The Priest took him by the right hand 
and led him to the house, which was 
then blessed and shut from without. 
The Priest^ with the assistants, retired, 
leaving the Anchoret within, and ad- 
vised the standers-by to pray for him. a 

A similar ceremony ensued with re- 
spect to female Anchorets ; for in 1351 
Lucy de Newchirche received letters of 
the Bishop of Worcester, after due en- 
quiry made into her life and morals, 
addressed to the Archdeacon, directing 
him to include the said Anchoress in 
the hermitage of St. Brandon, near 
Bristol; so that though Anchorets were 
net Hermits, anchor-holds (the old 
English word) were styled Hermitages. h 

There exist some very old and ca- 
rious Rules respecting these female 
Anchorets, which shall be here given, 
and changing the sex, they are equally 
applicable to these male Solitaries. 

Though Recluses, as leading an an- 
choretical life, were not analogous to 
Nuns, yet a similar rule attached to 
both, c and Recluse and Nun were sy- 
nonymous. 

A very ancient Rule is that of Simon | 
de Gandavo [or of Ghent] to his sis- 
ters, Anchoresses, whom also he styles 
Nuns. After mentioning the vow be- 
fore given, he adds, " that hes ne schal 
then stude never more chaungen, bute 
vor nead, one alse strengde and deathes 
dred,^ i. e. the vow was not to be in- 
fringed but by the most imperious ne- 
cessity or fear of death. d 

Meat not to eaten. "Also of mete 
and of drunch flesch forgon." e The 
next of the Eucharist painted in the 



a Si vero laicus fuerit a presbytero legatur pro eo 
professio. Deinde faciat includendus signum qu[od 
velit] facere scedulam professionis suae, et earn 
offerat super altare genibus flexis. Post hoc bene- 
dicat sacerdos habitum professionis et tunc asper- 
gat sacerdos habitum et suscipientem, &c. de foris 
domus claudatur. MS. Harl. ut supra. 

b Barret's Bristol, p. 61. 

c In Bennet Coll. Libr. Cambridge, is a MS. en- 
titled, " A rule for Nunnes and Recluses," in old 
English written in Saxon characters. Hickes's 
Grammat. Anglo- Saxonica, p. 164 (in Catalogo 
Libror. Septentrion.) 

d MS. Cott. Nero, A. xiv. f. 2. e Fol. 2. 



chamber of Nuns S "Also se schulen 
don, whon the preost halt hit ette 
messe,g and bivore the confiteor hwon 
ze schulen beon ihuseled n efter this 
valleth acneon i to other crucifix mid 
teos vif gretunges.' Jk 

' f Nonnes must not foulle their ho- 
liday cloaths." 1 Their studies were to 
be " versling of hire sautere [their 
Psalter], reding of Englischs oder [or] 
of Freinchs holi meditaciuns/' m 

Grace occurs before drinking. " Bi- 
tweone mete who so drinken wull sigge 
[say] Benedict e. " ^ 

Another article allegorizes the dress. 
"That blake clod betockned that ze 
beoth blacke and unwurde toward the 
worlde: that hwite creois limpeth to on 
vor threo manere creorices beoth reade 
and blake and white ; that reade limpeth 
to theo, that beoth vor godes luve mid 
hore bio d-scheddingeireaded (reddened) 
ase the martiris weren : the blake croiz 
limpeth to theo, that makied id^e [in 
the] worlde hore penitence nor lod- 
licke sinnen : that white croiz limped 
to hwit meidenhed and to clennesse." 

Rule of Silence. (i Everich vrideie P 
of de zer holdeth silence, bute zif [un- 
less] hit beo duble feste, and teonne 
holdith hir sum other dai i the wike 
ithen advent and i the umbridayes, 
wodnesdays and fridayes in the lanten 
three dayes and al the swith 5 wike vort 
non ; of Ester even to oyr meiden ze 
muyen thaut siggen [say] mid lut [lov- 
ing] wordes, what ze wulled, and zif 
eni god mon is of feorrene ikumen, 
herched, his speche and onswerid mid 
lut wordes to his askunge."^ 

He then reprobates embraces of men. 
ft God hit wot ase me were muchele 
dole leovere thet ich iseie on alle threo 
mine leove sustren wummen me leo- 

f Eucharista depicta in conclavi Nonnarum. 

s Elevates, or holds the Host at Mass. 

h Hoseled, i. e. receive the sacrament. 

1 Fall on your knees to the crucifix with these 
livelv salutations. 

k Fol. 4. a. ' Fol. 4.b. m Fol. 10. a. 

n Ibid. 

Belongeth, from the Anglo-Saxon limpian, 
pertinere. 

p Instances have been repeatedly given of the 
uncommon sanctity attached to Fridays. 

f i Fol. 16. 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS. 



3/5 



vest hongen on a gibet vort wid buyen 
sunne then ich iseie on of ou (you) ziven 
enne e.lpi col to eni mon on eorde, so 
ase ich mene leh am still of demore 
nout on monglinde honden .... hire- 
sulf beholden hire owene honden white 
ded'herm to moni ancre.'^ i. e. he had 
rather see them hanged on a gibbet, than 
taking any man round the neck, light 
of gesture and demeanour, joining 
hands, and keeping the latter white ; on 
the contrary, like the Monks of La 
Trappe, 

They were every day to scrape up the 
earth for their graves, with their hands. 
f- Heo schulden schreapien evViche deie 
the eorde up of hore putte ther heo 
schulden rotien inne." a 

Monks and Priests were not to be 
called by their proper names. K Mid 
thus thu micht siggen [say] a munuch 
oder a preost, and nout WiUam ne 
water, though ther ne beon non oder.'''' 

Their confessors were not to be young. 
" Ich ne der noutthat heo deopluker b 
schrive [confess] hire to yunge preos- 
tes her abuten." 

This Manuscript c is of the thir- 
teenth century, for the author was Bi- 
shop of Salisbury from 1297 to 1315, d 
and it is a curious specimen of the 
Saxon English of the time. 

A more interesting rule is that of Al- 
fred of Rievesby, in Latin and English, 
(the latter professed to be a translation, 
but by no means faithful,) the former 
intituled De Institutis Inclusarum, e 
the other " Reivle of a Recluse." The 
following are extracts from the first : 
K Surely if you have any necessary 
food, or cloathing of value, you are not 
a Xun'" f i: I do not like a pimp of 

■ Fol. 29. 

b From the Anglo-Saxon beophcop. Penitus. 
V. Lye. 

c There is a Latin Translation of this MS. at 
Masrdalen Colleje, Oxon. See Warton's Emend, v. 
i. p. 11. 

d Britton's Cathedrals, in Salisbury, p. 30. 

e MS. Cott. Xero, A. 3. 

f F. 3. Certe si prerii necessariura victum et 
vesritura aliquem habes monacha non es. . . . Nolo 
ut insidiatrix pudicitiae vetala mixta pauperisms ac- 
cedat ; propius deferat ab aliquo monachorum vel 
clericorum eulogias nee blanda verba in aure susur- 
ret ; ne pro accepta eleemosyna osculans manum 
venenum insibilet. f. 3. b. 



an old woman, mixed among the poor, 
bringing eulogiee, [presents of conse- 
crated bread, see the Chapter of Rules ,~\ 
and whispering soft words to you from 
some Monk or Clerk, lest she should 
insinuate poison, when she kisses your 
hand for alms received. 

Care is also to be taken, that the 
Anchoress be not burdened in showing 
hospitality to religious women; for 
often among the good, some very bad 
come, who sitting down before the an- 
choress's window, after prefacing with 
a few pious speeches, run off to secular 
matters. Thence she begins to frame 
love affairs, and pass nearly the whole 
night without sleep. Beware of such 
persons, &c.s 

" Therefore let some old woman be 
chosen, not garrulous, not litigious, 
not gadding about, not a tale-bearer. 
Let this woman guard the door of the 
cell, and admit and repel whom she 
ought. h 

" Let her have a girl to carry bur- 
dens; fetch water and wood; dress 
beans or pot-herbs, or, if infirmity re- 
quires it, procure superior viands.* 

a Grant no access to boys and girls. 
There are certain Anchoresses, who are 
occupied in teaching girls, and turn 
their cell into a school. She sits at the 
window, they in the porch. She be- 
holds each, and during their puerile 
actions, now is angry, now laughs, now 
threatens, now soothes, now spares, 
now kisses; now calls the weeping 
child to be beaten, now strokes her 
face, draws up her head, and eagerly 



B Cavendum prsetereaest, utnec obsusceptionem 
religiosarum foeminarum quodlibet hospitalitatis 
onus inclusa suscipiat. Nam inter bonas plerum- 
que tarn pessimas veniunt, quae ante inclusa; fenes- 
tram discumbentes, promissis valde paucis de reli- 
gione sermonibus, ad ssecularia devolvuntur. Inde 
subtexere amatoria et fere totum noctem insompnem 
ducere. Cave tu tales, ike. fol. 3. b. 

h Itaque eligatur anus aliqua non garrula, non 
litigiosa, non vaga, non rumigerula : Usee ostium 
cellae custodiat, et quos debuerit vel admittat, vel 
repellat. fol. 4. 

1 Habeat sibi ad onera sustinenda puellam, 

qua; aquam et ligna comportet ; coquat fabas, aut 
olera ; aut si hoc infirmitas exegerit, praparet po- 
ciora. fol. 4. 



3/6 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS. 



embracing her, calls her her daughter, 
her love. a 

w That we may not impose upon you 
perpetual silence, let us see with whom 
you may honestly converse. If it be 
possible, let there be provided, in a 
neighbouring monastery or church, 
some old priest of sound morals, and 
good character. With him conversa- 
tion may now and then be holden con- 
cerning confession and edification of the 
soul; advice be received in doubtful, 
consolation in sad affairs. But as even 
old age may not be insusceptible of b 
amatory emotions, you are not to give 
him your hand to touch, or feel. Let 
no discourse be held concerning his at- 
tenuated features, lean arms, and 
wrinkled skin, lest where you seek a 
remedy, you incur danger." 

Speak with no visitors unless a Bi- 
shop or Abbot, or Prior of high charac- 



a Pueris et puellis nullum ad te concedas acces- 
sum. Sunt quasdam inclusse, quae docendis puellis 
occupantur, et cellam suam vertunt in scolam. Ilia 
sedet ad fenestram ; istse in porticu resident. Ilia 
intuetur singulas ; et inter puellares motus, nunc 
irascitur, nunc ridet, nunc minatur, nunc blanditur, 
nunc parcit, nunc osculatur, nunc uentem pro 
verbere vocat ; ipsius palpat faciem, stringit col- 
lum ; etin arnplexum mens, nunc filiam vocat, nunc 
amicam. fol. 4. a. 

b Quod perpetuum ni cum viris indicere possi- 
mus silentium cum quibus bonestius loqui possit 
videamus. Igitur si fieri potest provideatur in vi- 
cino monasterio, vel ecclesiapresbiter aliquis senex, 
maturis moi"ibus, et bouse opinionis. Cui raro de 
confessione et animse edificatione loquatur a quo 
consilium accipiat in dubiis, in tristibus consola- 
tionem. Verum quia (I decline inserting tbe next 
part) emollit mortuam senectutem, nee ipsi manum 
suam tangendam prsebeat vel palpandam. Nulla 
nobis de macie vultus, de exhillaritate (sic) brachio- 
rum, de cutis asperitate, sermocinatio fit; ne ubi 
quseris remedium incurras perriculum. fol. 5 b. 

Cum nullo advenientium, prseter episcopum aut 
abbatem, vel magni nominis priorem, sine ipsius 
presbyteri licencia. vel praecepto loquaris, et tunc 
al'.quo prsesente, fol. 5. 

Nunquam inter te et quemlibet virum quasi occa- 
sione exbibendse caritatis vel invitandi affectus vel 
expetendse familiaritatis, aut amicitiae spiritalis dis- 
currant nuncii ; nee eorum munuscula litterasque 
suscipias ; nee illis tua dirigas ; sicut plerisque 
moris est, quae zonas vel marsupia diverso stramine 
vel sub tegmine variata ; et cetera bujusmodi ado- 
leccentioribus monacbis vel clericis mittunt. fol. 
6. a. 

Nemo se palpet ; nemo blandiat se ; nemo se 
fallat ; nunquam ab adolesceutibus, sine magna 
cordis contritione, et carnis aftiictione eastitas con- 
queritur et servatur. fob 16. b. 



ter, without the license or direction of 
the Confessor, and then in the pre- 
sence of some other person. 

Never let any messengers run to and 
fro between you and any man, under 
colour of exhibiting charity, or inviting 
regard, or courting spiritual familiarity 
or friendship; nor receive their presents 
or letters ; or direct yours to them, as 
is the custom of many, who send girdles 
or purses, made of various coloured 
straw, or diversified under a case or 
covering, and other things of this sort, 
to young monks or clerks. 

Let no one stroke herself ; let no one 
flatter herself; let no one deceive her- 
self. Chastity is never sought or pre- 
served without great contrition of hearty 
and affliction of the flesh. 

There is also a certain hope of vanity, 
in being delighted even within a cell by 
some affected decoration: as ornament- 
ing the walls with various pictures or 
carvings ; the oratory with a variety of 
tapestry and images. 

The Old English Paraphrase (ac- 
cording to the language") of the fifteenth 
century, shall now be given, so far as 
concerns its contents not of a mere ge- 
neral or moral kind. It is entitled d 
" Rewle of a Recluse e that seynt Alrede 
wrote to his suster." 

" Omine also ben/ which ben busy 
in gadrynge of worldly good in bestaile 
in wolle, in multipling of peny to peny 
and shilyng, so that they oughten ra- 
ther to be called housewyves, than re- 
cluses. They ordeyne mete for her 
bestes, verder for her cattell, and atte 
yere's end, they loke after the n ombre 
or after the price ; after this followeth 



c Est et quaedam spes vanitatis in affectata aliqua 
pulcbritudine et intra cellulam delectari parietes 
variis picturis vel celaturis ornare, oratorium pan- 
norum etimaginum decorare. fol. 19. b. 

d MS. Bodl. 2322. 

e Recluse mostly signified an Ancboress, as is 
plain from tbe Anglia Sacra, ii. 269, yet tbere are 
passages in this rule, as of keeping cattle, &c. 
wbicb appear to me to apply to Nuns. Inclusus 
also denoted an Ancboret. Id. 

f Tbe original is " Quod fere vicium per omnes 
hujus temporis serpit incmsas pecuniae aggregandse 
vel multiplicandis, pecoribus inhiant." MS. Cott. 
Nero. A. 3. fol. 2. This is more than decisive 
proof of the looseness of the translation. 



GONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS, 



377 



byinge and sellinge, of the which com- 
eth covetise and avarice." a 

" First chose an honest ancient wo- 
man in lyvinge, no j angler ne royler 
about, noo chider, noo tidinges teller, 
but such oon, that may have witnesse 
of hir good conversacyon and honesty. 
Hir charge shall be to kepe thyn hous- 
hold and thy lyrlod to close thy dore ; 
and to resceve that shuldbe resceyved, 
and to voide that shuld be avoided ; 
under her govarnaile shuld she have a 
yonger woman of age to bere greter 
charges in fettynge of woode and water, 
and sethynge and guithynge of mete 
and drynke. 

i£ Also how a recluse should speke, and 
ivhanne. Now sith I have tolde the of 
silence, I shall also shew the of speche. 
Whan thou shalt speke. From exalta- 
cyon of the crosse unto Estern, after 
tyrae complyn is seyde unto pryme be 
do a morrowe to speke with noon saaf 
after pryme with the mynistres that 
serven the yit under fewe wordes of 
such thinges as the nedith ; and fro that 
tyme tyl thou have ete, kepe the in si- 
lence in devoute praiers and holy me- 
ditacions. And than use communica- 
cioun tyll evensonge tyme. After even- 
songe is do to speke with thy ministres 
of thyngesthat thebehoveth till tyme of 
collacioun, and to kepe silence for al 
that nyght, from Estern til the exalfa- 
cion of the crosse come ayen. After 
tyme that complyn is seide til the 
sonne arise amorwe, to kepe silence, 
and than to speke with thy ministres. 
After tyme prime is seide tyl the thridde 
houre to commine with othir that co- 
men honestly, and under fewe wordes. 
In the saam wise shalt thou do bi- 
tweene the houre of noon after thou 
hast ete tyl evensonge tyme, and after 
evensong is adon than to speke with 
thy ministres tyl the tyme of collacyon. 
But in Lente keepe silence, that thou 
speke with noon saaf with thy confes- 
sour and thy mynistres, or ellys but it 
be som body that cometh from fer con- 
tre. After tyme thou hast sayde divyne 



fol. 1 



servyce, thou shalt occupie the with 
some honest labour of thy hondes — be 
well wer of multitude of psalmes in thy 
pryvat prayer, b and put it in noo cer- 
teyn but as long as thou delitist ther 
inne so long use hem : and when thou 
beginnest to waxe hevy of hem, orwery, 
then take a boke and rede, or do som 
labour with thy hondes. Thus shalt 
thou be occupied bitwene every divyne 
houre of the nyght, and of the day from 
the kalendes of November unto Lente, 
so that a little before complyn thou be 
occupied with redynge of holy faders 
prively by thiself in stede of thy colla- 
cyon that thou mightest, by grace, gete 
the som compuncyon of teres and fer- 
vour of devocion in saienge of thy com- 
plyn. And whan thou art thus replet 
and fedd with devocion reste the, and 
go to to (sic) thy bed restynge the ther 
unto the tyme that it be passed myd- 
nyght her than thou beginne thy ma- 
tyns, for thou shalt slepe no more of all 
day. This same rule shalt thou kepe 
from Estern unto the kalendes of No- 
vember, saaf that thou shalt slepe after 
mete afore the hour of noon. Loke 
also that thou be in bed after complyn 
by than the sonne goo to reste/'' 

In Lent. " The manner of thy slep- 
ynge in this tyme a fore mydnyght shall 
be lasse than in another tyme." 

Eating what — "with so many of pot- 
age of wortes, c or of peses or of benys, 
or elles of formage d medled with mylke 
or with oyle, to put away or avoyde 
the bitterness, and with o kynde of 
ffyshe, with apples or with herbes. And 
upon the Wednesday, Friday, and Sa- 
turday, to use but Lent metes. In 
Lente one maner of potage every day, 
but e sicknesse it make — every Friday 
brede and water. And the tyme of thy 
meles shall be everyday at'hye none 
and in Lente tyme after evensonge 



b A sick nun of Barking " at suche tyme as her 
sickness came entryd in to her oratorye", and sayde 
the seven psalmes and letanye." Golden Legend, 
fol. clxxxix. v. 

c Cabbage, Sax. All kinds of Pot-herbs. Junius. 

d Fromage, cheese, will naturally occur to mind, 
but jirmiti/ is no doubt meant. See Refectory. 

e Without. Sax. 



378 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS. 



from Estern to Whitsondye ontake a 
Rogacion days and With sone eve, thou 
shalt ete at midday and sithen b at even- 
ing. This rule shall tow kepe al the 
somer tyme ontake c Wednesday and 
Friday, and other solempne vigils. 
Also thou maist and thou wilt, every 
fastynge day in the somer season, by 
cause thou hast noo merydian after 
noon, to slepe bitwene matyns and 
pryme. Thy vesture that thou shalt 
use ben these; a warme pylche d for 
winter, and oo kirtel c and oo cote for 
somer with a black habite above hem, 
and every either time ii stamyns f — also 
loke the veyle of thyne hed bee of noo 
precyouse clothe, but of amene& black, 
be also welwar that thou have no more 
than the nedith to hoson and to shoon, 
and of other thynge that longeth to thy 
feet." 

" Arraye thyn auter with white lyn- 
nen clothe, the whiche betokeneth both 
chastite and simplenesse. h In this auter 
sette an image of christis passion, that 
thou may have mynde and se hou he 
sette and spredde his armes abrood to 
resceyve thee and al mankynde to mercy 
if thaie wil axe it. And if it plese the 
sette on that oo side an ymage of our 
Lady, and another on that other syde 
of Seint John, for commendacyon of 
more chastite, bothe of man and of 
woman ; the which be ended in our 
Lady and seint John. 1 *'■ 

An eminent Anchoret, whom Mat- 
thew Paris calls " holy and solitary," 



6 On privativ. Sax. 

b Afterwards. 

c " Oultake" is a true old English word. See 
Tyrwhitt's Glossary to Chaucer. 

d Pilch was a garment made of Skins ; a furred 
one I suppose here. 

e A tunic or waistcoat, says Tyrwhitt, perhaps, in 
its common acceptation, a petticoat. Johnson and 
Steevens's Shakespeare, v. 510. ed. 2d. 

' Woollen shifts. e Middle. 

»» Fol. 186. 

5 Ibid. Fuller (Waltham Abbey, 17,) has the 
following extract from Church-wardens' Accounts 
in 1554 : " Item, For Mary and John that stand in 
the Rood-loft 26s. Sd. Christ (John xix. 26. &c.) 
on the Cross saw his mother, and the Disciple whom, 
he loved, standing by. In apish imitation whereof 
the Rood (when perfectly made with all the appur- 
tenances thereof) was attended with these two 
images." 



was Wulfric of Haselborough, a Priest, 
in early life fond of hounds and hawks, 
but converted by the information of a 
beggar, that he had money in his purse, 
with which he was not acquainted. At 
first he was a humble friend at the table 
of the Lord of the Manor, where he was 
born. But panting for solitude, he re- 
tired to Haselborough, where he passed 
his life in a cell, contiguous to the 
Church. Not content with a hair shirt, 
[but becoming one of the Loricati,] he 
begged an old iron corslet of chain 
mail, k which from becoming thin, at 
last incumbered him, by falling to his 
knees, when he said his prayers. He 
used to say the Psalter, and immerge 
himself in a tub of cold water, during 
the time, at night, to subdue the flesh. 
Strangers resorted to him, but he never 
conversed with them, except with the 
windows closed. When he died, he 
was buried in his oratory at Haselbo- 
rough. 1 Anchorets were always sup- 
posed to hold direct intercourse with 
Heaven, and converse familiarly with 
angels. m For this reason even that in- 
sufferable coxcomb, Giraldus Cambren- 
sisj thought proper to visit an Anchoret, 
within his own Archdeaconry, in order 
to take his opinion, upon relinquishing 
the court for a life of study, and have 
his blessing, because the Anchoret was 
full of the Holy Spirit. This Anchoret 
had been to Jerusalem, and afterwards 
shut himself up in his prison. After 
mass, he called the Priest to his win- 
dow, to read the Gospel, and at the 
hour of refreshment, his servant brought 
him his meal to his window. In order 
to comprehend the missal, he learned 
Latin, but only to be understood, with- 
out attention to the grammar, tenses, 
or cases, and always spoke in the infini- 
tive mood ; thus instead of saying (to 
render his words, in English) " 1 went 
to Jerusalem and visited the Sepulchre 



k Very religious persons for mortification wore 
an iron corslet next the skin, which they never 
took off. They were called Loricati. (Du Cange, 
in voce.) It was also presumed to prevent tempta- 
tion by carnal weakness. Dugd. Monast. ii. 59. 

1 M. Paris, 78, 79. 

m Du Cange, v. Festum Nativitatis S. Marice. 



CONSUETUDINAL OF ANCHORETS AND HERMITS. 



379 



of Christ^ he said, " I to go to Jeru- 
salem and to visit the Holy Sepulchre." 
However filled with the Holy Ghost, 
it appears, that some Cistercian Monks 
had persuaded him not to put his hand 
through his window, and cure the blind, 
lame, and sick, who resorted to his cell, 
and that he was in doubt how to act, 
until Giraldus had advised him to exert 
his faculty of healing. a Thus the ab- 



surdity of supposing, that the Holy 
Spirit was ever in doubt, was not un- 
derstood, even by Giraldus ; who 
blindly acted from the superstition be- 
fore mentioned. 

There are strong distinctions made 
by Piers Plowman, in reference to 
the characters of Anchorets and Her- 
mits respectively. Of the former, he 
speaks well, 



And for the love of our Lorde, lyveden full harde, 
As Ankers and Hermits, that hold him in her sells, 
And coveten nought in contrey to carien aboute, 
For no liquerouse livelode b her likam to please. 



Fol. i. 



A Church in Normandy being set on 
fire, two Anchoresses were burnt to 
death in it, because they thought that 
their cells were not to be deserted, 
even in such a necessity; but this 
opinion was not general. These Fe- 
male Anchorets, who were sometimes 
distinguished by the vulgar prefix of 
mother,^ were not always steady. At a 
part of the Abbey of Whalley, Lanca- 
shire, near the gate, one Isold Heton, 
widow, who had petitioned Henry VI. 
to be admitted Anchoress there, after- 
wards went away disgusted ; and it ap- 
pears that other anchoresses and re- 
cluses had done the same before, and 
that divers of their servauntes attendant 
had been gotten with child within the 
said place. e The prohibition of loco- 
motion necessarily, as before noted, re- 
quired attendants in their service, but 
with respect to themselves, it is pre- 
scribed in the visitation of Edmunds- 
bury, " that the Monks do not hold 
frequent and familiar conversations 
with the Nuns near the Monastery, 



with recluse women, that so all ground 
of suspicion may be taken away." f 

At Bicknor, in Kent, is a shed^ or 
hovel, called the rector s house, built 
against the North side of the Church, 
with a room projecting nearly across 
the aisle, and under the same roof.s 
This was, possibly, an anchor-hold; 
though very rare instances do occur, 
of such residences for incumbents. 

Abroad they were sometimes of 
elegant fashion. Agnellus says, (i At 
the sides of the said Church, he sub- 
joined little Monasteries, all which 
were ornamented with gilt tesselke, and 
the name of Maximianus carved upon 
the tops of the pillars, together with 
lithostratick, tesselated, or Mosaick 
work, in the Monastery, forming words. 
It was the style of Roman pavements . h 

Anchorages were situatedin Churches, 
Church-yards, over the Church porch, 
and at Town gates. They had often 
Chapels annexed.* 

Anchorets were denominated et Sir/' 
as ie Sir Thomas the Anchorite/' in 
Taylor's Index Monasticus, p. 65, 



HERMITS. 



Godrick of Finchale was a Hermit 
of high note in his day. He learned 
the Psalter by heart, and lived in a 
cottage, excavated out of the ground, 

a Angl. Sacr. ii. 497. 493. 

Hie Heremita sacer non parvo tempore vixit 
Seepius Angelicis felix affatibus usus. 

Alcuin. de Pontif. Ebc-r. v. 662. 

b This is explained further on. 

c Angl. Sacr. i. 262. d Ballard's Ladies, p. 1. 

e Weever's Funer. Monum. 154, 5. ed. fol. 



and covered with turf. To it was an- 
nexed an oratory, which had not only 
a crucifix, but an image and altar of 

£ Interdicimus et monachis frequentia et fami- 
liaria colloquia cum monialibus huic monasterio 
vicinis, cum mulieribus reclusis, ut ita tollatur 
omnis materia suspicionis. MS. Cott. Jul. D. ii. 
f. 139. a. 

e Hasted's Kent, v. 568. 

h Du Cange, v. Lithostratas, Literce. 

' Taylor's Index Monasticus, p. 65. 



380 



HERMITS. 



the Virgin Mary, as well as another 
altar of John the Baptist, possibly 
from the eremitical character of that 
saint. He lay at night upon the ground, 
his pillow being a stone, which served 
him also for a table. Being deter- 
mined to live by manual labour only, 
for which purpose he cultivated a piece 
of ground, he refused all presents, and 
provisions, which were offered to him. 
He reduced the branches and roots of 
herbs to ashes, which he mixed with 
barley flour in such proportion, that 
the ashes contained a third part. As 
he abstained often for six whole days 
without food, and never ate without 
the most urgent necessity, famine re- 
conciled him to this coarse diet 3 nor 
did he drink any thing, but a very 
small quantity of water, which he took 
only when urged by thirst. In the 
Winter, often during the whole night, 
he immerged himself naked in a frozen 
river, up to his neck, and there said 
prayers and psalms. This usual pro- 
cess, for subduing carnal appetites, was 
called offering himself a living victim 
to the Lord. At times, he sat in his 
oratory, ruminating upon the Psalter ; 
and upon holidays or other great days, 
a Priest or Monk attended to say Mass 
to him in that Oratory. He wore a 
hair-shirt, and an iron corslet for fifty 
years. He never occupied a bed, but 
lay naked in his hair shirt. Like all 
other Anchorets and Hermits he was 
presumed to have frequent intercourse 
with the inhabitants of the celestial 
world . a 

It was usual with Hermits to say the 
Psalter every day, b and they were fa- 
vourite Confessors. Don Quixote 
makes them the especial, perhaps only 
Confessors of Knights Errant. In the 
romance of the Nouveau Renard, writ- 
ten in the 13th century, Renard goes 
to confess to a Hermit, who tells him, 
if he turns to that profession, he must 
walk bare-footed, wear a hair shirt, 
and live upon water and roots, though 
barley -bread and w T ater was a common 



* M. Paris, 97—99. b Id. 284. 

e Notices des MSS. v. 622. 



food. d To this there were exceptions. 
In the " Enseignmens of the Chevalier 
de la Tour Lundri," a MS. of the 14th 
centmy, w T e hear of a Hermit who ac- 
cepted hospitality and lodging from a 
female. e 

In the (i Acta Sanctorum " it is said, 
that they invited William the Hermit 
to dinner, and placed before him Mac- 
caroons, a kind of delicate sweetmeat/ 
To this good fare, from hospitality, 
Piers Plowman alludes by the words 
"lyqerouselivelihoode" before quoted, 
and additionally illustrated further on. 

It was generally thought, that they 
had the power, from sanctity, of curing 
diseases, and working miracles. S 21 
Ed. III. Thomas Lord Berkeley found- 
ed an Hermitage at Bedminster, near 
Bristol, and placed one John Markes 
therein for life, so that Hermitages 
passed under the advowson form. h 
Unlike other religious, they could pos- 
sess property, and make a will. 1 They 
commonly followed trades or occupa- 
tions. Bilfrid, an Anglo-Saxon An- 
choret, was an excellent goldsmith, and 
worked at that trade. k It was often 
usual for Bishops, or Abbots, to retire, 
and end their days as Hermits. 1 Emi- 
nent Hermits sometimes drew female 
Anchorets around them. Roger, a 
Monk of St. Alban's, lived, as a Her- 
mit, in obedience to his Abbot ; under 
whom was one Christina, as an An- 
choress, in a cell, contiguous to his 
oratory. He never saw her face, and 
she was so concealed by boarded con- 
trivances, as to be invisible to any 
person, externally; and instead of a 
door, was a hard trunk of wood, which 
was too heavy to be moved by her. 
She lay upon the cold stone, condemn- 
ed to sit immovably, be tortured, and 
remain in silence, nor had any means 
of summoning Roger to her, but by 
the voice and knocking ; and this she 



d Gemeticensis, 622. e Notices, v. 162. 

, f Du Cange, v. Maccarones. 
s.-P. de Comines, B. vi. c 8. Gold. Leg, ccxliv. 
M. Paris, 98, &c. 

h Smythe's Berkeley MS. f. 357. 

> Lyndw. 167. k X Script. 22. 

1 M. Paris, 993. Angl. Sacr. &c. &c. 



HERMITS, 



381 



was afraid to do, even to sigh, lest any 
one besides Roger should be present, 
and discover her retreat, which she 
dreaded more than death ; nor except 
in the evening " exire foras, non nisi 
serolicebatadea quge natura poposcit.^a 
As she was a famous embroideress, 



possibly she amused herself in that 
employ. 

Whatever might be the estimation 
in which particular Hermits were held, 
many of them were worthless rogues 
and vagabonds. Piers Plowman, though 
he speaks well of Anchorets, thus de- 
scribes Hermits : 



In habyte as an Hermit unholie of workes, 
Hermets on a heape with hoked staves b 
Wenten to Walsingham and her wenches after, 
Great loubeis and longe that loth were to swynke, 
Clothed hem in copes to be knowen from other 
And shopen hem hermits her ease to have. 



Fol. i. 



Fol. i. b. 



To understand this, it is fit to note, 
that Lob, Lubber, Looby > and Lobcock, 
says Steevens, all denoted inactivity of 
body and dulness of mind : and swinke 
is labour. As to the copes, the cos- 
tume of Hermits is a long gown with 
a hood covering the whole body, with 
arm-holes, a tunick, and rosary : beard 
very long, c but their dress was often 
ragged. 

"Or clothed in some hermit's ragged reed," 

says George Fletcher . d To this add a 
rope for a girdle, a hair-shirt, and what 
was peculiarly affected, a Knight's iron 
corslet. € Langland, the author of 
Piers Plowman, is well supported by 
other authorities. " The Hermit of 
Dursley was awarded at the court of 
the Manor of Ham, 8 Henry VIII. 
bind manu (a form of arraignment I 
believe belonging to the Clergy/) with 
two hands, to prove, that the horse 
which had thither strayed, and there 
been taken up, was not thiefe-stolen 
by him, but his own proper goods.s" 
Their presumed sanctity was not al- 



a Dugd. Monast. i. 350. seq. 

b Bearded Hermits' staves ; Shakespeare, 2 
Hen. IV. Act 5. Scene i. In the frontispiece of 
MS. Bodl. 3010, is a Monk, with a staff, topped 
by a cross botonnee ; but the wood-cuts of the 
Legend have no staff at all, in the costumes of 
Hermits. 

c Cuts in the Golden Legend, fol. xliv. ccxlix. 

d Christ's Triumph, &c. st. lxii. 

e Dugd. Monast. ii. 59. See note of the Lori- 
cati, p. 378. 

f I thiuk I have seen such a form in the State 
Trials. 

£ Smy the' s Berkeley Hernesse MS. fol. 179. 



ways a protection to them, probably 
from frequent bad character. We hear 
of one Edwin a Hermit, who made a 
turning bridge over a ditch, round his 
Hermitage ; and also had begun an 
outer ditch in a marsh, against the 
shepherds, who wished to burn down 
his dwelling; but the men of Saltrey 
hindering him and driving him away, 
he could not secure himself till the 
Lord permitted him to make the outer 
ditch pro numine suoJ 1 One William 
de Swinderby, a fanatical itinerant 
preacher, being nearly stoned by the 
women, for preaching against their 
dress, finding his concionations of no 
avail, turned Hermit, and was main- 
tained by the charity of John of Gaunt, 
but had no resolution to persist in 
his profession, though the devotees of 
Leicester gratuitously offered him vic- 
tuals^ 

Hermitages. Interesting remains of 
these are still exhibited in the County 
of Worcester, and are ranges of ca- 
verns. 151 They were sometimes very 
sanctified spots. That year, says Cer- 
vantes, the Heavens had withheld re- 
freshing showers from the earth; and 
through all the villages of that district, 
the people instituted processions, dis- 
ciplines, and prayers ; for this purpose 
the inhabitants of a neighbouring vil- 
lage were then going in procession, to 
a holy hermitage, built on an emi- 

h Dugd. Monast. i. 852. 

1 Decern Scriptores, col. 2666. 

k Engraved in Nash's Worcestershire. 



382 



HERMITAGES. 



nence, that skirted the valley. 8 The 
Hermits of the time of Gregory Na- 
zianzen lived on bread and water in 
caves, and wore garments of skin and 
hair. b Fiacre, the eminent hermit, 
seeking a place K to lede hys lyfe here- 
myticke and solitarily," begged for that 
purpose " a lytill place within a wood " c 
and " ferre fro abydinge of ony folk," 
where he " founded a chyrche," and 
i{ beyonde it a lytill way thens he 
bylded a lytil hous wherin he dwelled, 
and there herberowedde the pour that 
passed by ;" but these visitors becom- 
ing very numerous, in order to be 
healed of diseases, and have his prayers 
and advice, he found that " of nedes 
he muste make hys habtacyon or hows- 
yng more specious and gretter, than 
hyt was. And thought to hym good 
and necessary to make a grete gardyne 
wheryn he sholde have alle manere of 
herbes good for to make potage wyth 
for to fede the poure, whan they shold 
retourne towarde hym." d 

Not far from hence, says the student 
in Don Quixote, e is an hermitage, 
where lives an Anchorite, who is said 
to have been a soldier. — Adjoining to 
the Hermitage is a little house, built 
by the labour of his own hands, which 
though narrow is large enough to re- 
ceive travellers. iC Can that same Her- 
mitage produce any poultry?" said 
Sancho. " There are few Hermitages 
destitute of that provision,"*" answered 
the Knight, " for the Anchorites of 
these days are not like those who dwelt 
in the deserts of Egypt, clothing them- 
selves with palm-leaves, and subsist- 
ing on the roots of the earth. Accord- 
ingly they called at the Hermitage for 
some of the best wine, but were an- 
swered by the Under- hermit, his mas- 

a Don Quixote, ii. 284. 

b Du Cange, v. Anachoreta. 

e Drayton (Battle of Agincourt) describes the 
blazon of the Stafford men to be a Hermit in his 
homely suit, because many hermits formerly lived 
there, it being all foresty. 

d Golden Leg. fol. cclxix. e P. ii. b. 2. c. 7. 

f We hear of an Irish Anchoret of the 17th 
Century, who had Proctors, as they were called, 
who went about the country begging corn, geese, 
turkies, &c. for the " Holy Man of the Stone." 
Collect. Reb. Hybern. No. i. p. 64. 



ter not being at home, that they had 
no wine, but were welcome to water." 
Hermitages were common at the ends 
of bridges, in Churchyards, and in the 
Gates of towns, and in Chapels. g 

Hence it appears, that the various 
Hermitages, which we find so roomy, 
were for the above hospitable purposes : 
a common Hermitage being a mere cell 
and chapel. The Hermitage of Wark- 
worth, a most elegant cavern hewn 
out of a rock, is one of the sweetest 
and most picturesque secessions in the 
whole world. At Tottenham, the Her- 
mitage was, I believe, a house, with 
apartments, unless these were modern. h 
The Hermitage of S. Briavel was a 
chantry of two Monks, and had de- 
mesne lands, upon which corn was 
grown for their support. 1 Hermits 
were in the habit of assarting wood 
lands by their own labour ; and foun- 
ders of Churches exempted such lands 
from tythes, at least in some instances. k 
Some were either actual farms or made 
such. a Tradidimus ad firmum Her- 
mitagium quod vocatur Hemeryes- 
chirche in parva Pakintona." 1 Gar- 
dens were indeed common appendages. m 
A sequestered situation was an essen- 
tial characteristick, for we are told, 
that Chetwood in Buckinghamshire 
was called a Hermitage purely upon 
account of its solitude, though no 
Hermit ever occupied the spot. n 

Miscellaneous. An Anglo - Saxon 
charter says, i( The venerable Father 
of the Monastery Saxulf having Monks, 
lovers of Anchoretical Life, has sug- 
gested to me, that he wished to found 
an Abbey in the adjacent desert, with 
Hermit/ s cells, that the Coenobites may 
live as Anchorets or Monks at option/' 

In the Hospital of St. Bartholomew 
at Gloucester, there was always one 
Priest in the habit of a Hermit pre- 
siding as Governor.P Perhaps, because 
he had a lay office, united to the 
clerical. 

e Taylor's Index Monastic, pp. 65, 66. 

h Lysons's Environs, iii. 540. 

' Dugd. Monast. i. 927. k Id. ii. 990. 

1 Angl. Sacr. i. 527. m M. Paris, 993. 

n Dugd. Monast. ii. 339. ° Id. i. 64. 

p Id. ii. 456. 



CONTINENTES VOWS OF CHASTITY. 



383 



CONTINENTES VOWS OF CHASTITY. 



The term Continentes, though in one 
sense the mere Latin Appellation of 
the Greek Asceticks, yet applied to 
Persons who, "upon a demi-monastick 
principle^ took Vows of Chastity. 3 
There were various classes of these 
persons. 

Honorius pretends, that Dinah daugh- 
ter of Jacob was the first before the 
law, with whom the custom began: 
Judith and others followed under the 
law ; Anna, &c. under the Gospel. b 

Infants made the vow at seven years 
old, c as did Virgins, even girls, after 
which the Parents could not force them 
to marryd because they were deemed 
already affianced to God. Christ is 
pretended to have affianced Catharine 
in this manner, putting a ring on her 
finger, &c. e 

Erasmus makes a Nun say, K I am 
married to one, who, when he sees me, 
may not chase to have me," in allusion 
to the custom of affiancing before ma- 
trimony, to which all the preceding 
matters have a relation; as appears 
from various passages in Tertullian, 
and Isidore, as cited by Rosinus. 

The term Continentes also applied to 

1. Women, who lived in Monasteries 
with Nuns. 

2. Tertiaries of St. Francis. 

3. Women who sung psalms at the 
celebration of funerals. 1 

The following were distinguished by 
name. 

Holy or consecrated widows or Pries- 



a Du Cange, v. Continentes. b Id. v. Vidua. 

c Id. v. Castimonium, Castimoniales. 

d Notices des MSS. iv. 186. 

e Golden Legend, ccxxv. There was anciently 
among the classical Ancients and ourselves, a ce- 
remony called affiancing, betrothing, espousals, 
&c. forming a contract of marriage, which might 
not take place for years afterwards. Mr. Smythe 
says (Berkeley MS.) that it was usual at 6 or 7 
years old among the Nobility, as well as very early 
subsequent union, to prevent imprudent connec- 
tions by falling in love. Mr. Douce's account of 
it (i. 108 seq.) may be preceded by the long de- 
scription of the Roman Sponsalia in Rosinus, 
Antiquit. Roman, p. 444, upon which the custom 
was founded. 

f Du Cange, v. Continentes. 



tesses. Similar orders existed among 
the Heathens. Tertullian (inter alia) 
says, a We know that widows are oc- 
cupied in the service of the African 
Ceres, who are weaned from matrimony 
by the most severe oblivion. s Cabin 
says, widows serving the Church, con- 
fined themselves to celibacy, not that 
they thought there was any thing reli- 
gious in it, as it was afterwards held ; 
but, because if not their own mistresses, 
and entangled with the marriage yoke, 
they could not perform the office. n In 
the earlier ages of the Church, the 
wives of Priests or Deacons, married 
before the latter were ordained, used 
to preserve the connection in a sisterly 
form, and perform the duties of the 
ancient Deaconesses. They were called 
Presbyterce or Priestesses, which term 
was also applied to the elder widows, 
who attended to Church duties. They 
used a far more modest habit than 
other women. Otto Vercellensis says, 
as those who were called Priestesses 
took the office of preaching, ordering, 
or teaching; so the Deaconesses took 
the office of ministering, or baptizing, 
which now is by no means expedient. 1 
These widows lived often in almshouses 
near the Church, k wdience now old 
females in many towms. 

Converse, or Penitent Prostitutes, 
after the manner of Mary Magdalene, 
took the habit of widows, and in the 
Greek Empire lived in Penitentiaries 
on purpose. 1 

Pyrocarce. In the 13th century ap- 
peared in Italy, women called Pyrocarce, 
similar to the Beghins of France, who 
made vows of chastity, and were or- 
dered to be loaded with prayers and 
fasts, because some of them had broken 
their vows by marriage. m 

Convert Husbands and Wives. Epi- 
phanius and other fathers mention hus- 

£ Du Cange, p. 185. Ed. Rigalt. 

h Instit. Theolog. p. 455. 

1 Du Cange, v. Presbyterce. 

k Id. v. Matricularice. x Id. v. Converses. 

m Du Cange, v. Pyrocarce. 



884 



CONTINENTES— VOWS OF CHASTITY. 



bands who lived apart from their wives, 
and wives from their husbands. 3 These 
vows were taken from Mary and Jo- 
seph, 13 and held sacred long after the 
dissolution of abbeys. Among us 
men and their wives took them when 
growing old ; d and certain hospitals 
required these vows before admissions 

The mostcommon vowwas, however, 
that of widowers and widows to observe 
chastity in honour of their deceased 
wives or husbands. These widows 
were called Vidua pullatcn (from the 
habit), or as they maybe termed Mourn- 
ing Widows. 

Mourning Widows? These vows 
among us are very ancient. Gildas 
mentions Cuneglass's wife's sister, a 
widow who had made a vow of chastity.^ 
The Anglo-Saxon women also made 
them, and the women wore a ring and 
russet gown. 11 The Bishop of the 
Diocese issued a commission ; and be- 
sides observing the vow, the widow 
was for life to wear a veil, and a mourn- 
ing habit. 1 Both were duly conse- 
crated. The veil was put on by the 
Priest; but the ring only was suffi- 
cient, whether they took the veil or 
habit or not. k 

The following is the literal transla- 
tion of the ceremonial of making a 
vow of this kind, by a widow : J 

13 March, 1393. Lady Blanch, re- 
lict of Sir Nicholas Styvecle, Knt. al- 
ledging that she was a parishioner of 
John, Lord Bishop of Ely, humbly 
supplicated the said Bishop, that he 
would think worthy to accept her vow 
of chastity, and from consideration of 
regard, confer upon her the mantle and 



a Du Cange, v. Continentes. 

b Le Voeu de Jacob, iv. 176. 

c Wilkins's Concilia, iii. 846. Henry's Gr. 
Brit. iii. 398. d M. Paris, 950. 

e Dugd. Monast. ii. 377, 390. 

f Du Cange, v. Vidua. s XV Scriptor. p. 11. 

»> M. Paris, 707. X Scriptor. 1906. 

* Dugdale's Warwickshire, 1013, et alii. 

k M. Paris, 398. 

1 From Gough's Sepulchr. Monum. v. i. p. 171. 
In MS. Cott. Tiber, b. viii. is the Benedictio 
Vestis Viduarum, f. 145 ; and f. 146, the Benedic- 
tio Viduarum, and then " Post hsec ponas pallium 
super caput ejus, et dicas, Accipe, Vidua, Pal- 
lium," &c. 



ring, &c. ; and afterwards the said Lady 
Blanch in the chapel m of the Manor of 
Dodyngton, in the Diocese of Ely, be- 
fore the high altar, in the presence of 
the said reverend father, then and there 
solemnly celebrating Mass, made so- 
lemnly her vow of chastity as follows 
in these words : 

" I, Blanch, heretofore wife of Sir 
Nicholas de Styvecle, Knt. vow to 
God, and our holy Lady Saint Mary, 
and all Saints, in presence of our Re- 
verend Father in God, John, by the 
grace of God, Bishop of Ely, that I 
will be chaste from henceforth during 
my life." And the said Reverend 
Father received her vow, and solemnly 
consecrated and put upon the said 
Vowess n the mantle and ring in the 
presence of, &c. — One of the witnesses 
is a Notary Public. 

The Veil occurs in foreign councils. 
In some ancient constitutions, the 
widows, if they became unchaste, were 
fined in money, and thrust into a Mo- 
nastery .p The mendicant orders are 
bitterly reproached by Wickliffi for 
inducing women to make vows of chas- 
tity. In the Secreta Monita of the 
Jesuits, there are three chapters r which 
throw considerable light upon these 
vows of chastity, and the tirade of 
Wickliff. 

The title of the sixth chapter is of 
the proper methods for inducing rich 
widows to be liberal to our Society. 
Such members of the Society were 
only to be chosen for this purpose, 
as were of a lively complexion and 
agreeable conversation. They were to 
display the advantages of a single life ; 
and the confessor to worm himself 
into the widow's confidence, so that 
she should do nothing without his 
advice. She must be exhorted to the 
frequent use and celebration of the 



m In some councils the ceremony was to be per- 
formed in the Sacristy. Du Cange, v. Vidua. 

u Vowess. Leland mentions the habit of a Vow- 
ess, i. e. Nun; as Votarist in Comus (1. 189) 
in Palmer's weed, is a Pilgrim. Mr. Nichols. 

° Du Cange, v. Pallium. v Id. v. Wera. 

i See Ch. of Friars. 

r vi. vii, xvi. 



CONTJNENTES — VOWS OF CHASTITY. 



385 



sacraments, but especially that of pen- 
ance, because in that she freely makes 
a discovery of her most secret thoughts, 
and every temptation. a Having weaned 
her from matrimony, it will then be 
time to recommend to her a spiritual 
life, but not a recluse one, the incon- 
veniences of which must be magnified 
to her, but such a one as Paula* s or 
Eustochius's, &c. ; and let the con- 
fessor, having as soon as possible 
prevailed upon her to make a Vow 
of Chastity, for two or three years 
at least, take due care to oppose 
all tendencies to a second marriage ; 
and then all conversation with men, 
and diversion even with her near rela- 
tives and kinsfolk, must be forbidden 
her, under pretence of entering into a 
stricter union with God. b 

If they have made a Vow of Chastity, 
let them, according to our custom, 
renew it twice a year ; and let the 
day upon which this is done, be set 
apart for innocent recreation with the 
members of the society. 

Let them be frequently visited, and 
entertained in an agreeable manner. 
If widows prove faithful and liberal to 
the Society, allow them in moderation, 



P. 41. 



b Pp. 44, 45. 



P. 47. 



and without offence, whatever pleasure 
they have an inclination to. d 

If they secretly steal into the garden 
or college, seem as if you knew it not, 
and allow them the liberty of conver- 
sation and private diversions with 
those whose company is most agree- 
able to them. e 

Let widows and others who have 
given us almost all they possessed, 
though then they are on an equal foot- 
ing with others, be treated with much 
more rigour, lest people should ima- 
gine that the greater indulgence of 
others proceeds from our hopes of se- 
cular advantages/ 

Erasmus mentions a widow, who, 
by the will of her husband, because 
she refused to become a Nun, was 
compelled to wear the robe of a Beguin, 
a middle order between Nuns and Lay- 
women, who lived by manual labour, 
and were so denominated from the 
head-dress, called Beguin. A twelfth 
part of her husband* s fortune was de- 
vised to her, upon half of which she 
was to live, the other half going to the 
religious house to which she should 
belong.^ 

d P. 49. e P. 51. t P. 117. 

« Funus. Colloq. 452, 453. Of Beghius, see 
chap. Modem Monachisra before, p. 298. 



2 c 



SELECT POEMS, 

(IN VARIOUS STYLES) 



BY THE 



REV. T. FOSBROKE 



1. ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE Spenser. 

2. TRIUMPH OF VENGEANCE ; AN ODE . . . Gray. 

3. THE RED MAN; OR, THE ADDRESS OF BUONAPARTE'S 

FAMILIAR DEMON; AN ODE . . . Gray and Collins. 

4. PARODY ON COLLINSES ODE TO THE PASSIONS. 

5. ON A LADY BATHING The Italian Concetto. 

6. EPITAPH The German Manner. 



2 c 2 



ECONOMY 



OF 



MONASTIC LIFE. 



PART THE FIRST. 



What, though our way unfeeling Fate denies 
Where Plato throngM the academic grove ? 
That not for us, a mountain ruin lies 
The mighty dome of Capitolian Jove, 
Where bony Gauls for Latian laurels strove ; 
'Though we but know from antiquarian tale 
That plain, a youth exulting chanced to rove, 
CharmM with the Doric fanes, the fragrant gale, 
And verdant sky of land in Paestum's vale. a 

Yet we have eyed with awe the stony heap, 
Where solemn Druids hymn'd unwritten rhyme ; b 
The hills of green turf, where old heroes sleep ; 
And towers the Norman liege-lord rearM sublime, 
Whose builders fondly smiled contempt at time : 
Much we have loved o'er fallen fanes to stray, 
What time we hear the sheep-belFs distant chime, 
The beetle's drowsy horn, and that sweet lay 
With which Night's solemn bird proclaims the close of day. 

Now we stray here, c for yonder arch hung high 
Displays, in pride of picture greatly fine, 
Nature's night-magick to the wondering eye ; 
The meek Moon blends her light and shade divine ; 
A robe, on plates of silver foil where shine 
Rich knots of spangles, covers yonder mound, 
Its Vinca blue d and prickly Eglantine ; 
No flower that grows that beauteous place around, 
But has its painted head with flame innocuous crown'd. 



a The ruins of Psestum, the classical " rosaria 
Psesti," dewy meadows, containing several Doric 
temples, were accidentally discovered by a painter's 
apprentice, 

b Stonehenge. Mr. Davies and Mr. Maurice, 
upon the authority of Diodorus's round Temple of 
dpollo [or Bel the Sun, &c] in Britain, seem to 



have discovered its real appropriation. The ap- 
pellation Chorea Gigantum explains its rude con- 
struction, as being of the Cyclopean Architecture, 
termed the " work of Giants." 

Netley Abbey. 

d Periwinkle. 



390 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



This arch, more picture thus, the tall ash a shades, 
On whose lank arms, the Autumn's early spoil, b 
The hallow' d misletoe a green wreath braids ; c 
Admitted we revere a long-drawn aile, 
The Church conventual of a ruin'd pile ; 
Brackets of plaistered faces, posterns low, 
And mouldings richly wrought by fretter's toil, 
And windows, erst where robed in gorgeous show 
Of Jesse's honourM race were ranged a tinted row. d 

Time's palsied hand a ragged outline leaves ; 
In every rift, (for he is wont to fling 
The berry there) sequacious ivy weaves 
A nappy frieze to hide unsightly thing, 
The ill-faced owl, and bat with devil's wing : 
Beneath the walls in safeguard fence is spread 
The evil race of weeds that quickly spring, 
The tetchy nettle with its venom dread, 
And arm'd like porcupine, the thistle's threatening head. 

Thus wicked Time, with his scythe-weapon'd hand,. 
Has 'reft the fane of its antique array ; 
I would, we could suspend his rash command, 
And take the surly dotard's scythe away, 
More mischievous than wayward infant's play ; 
Thou, hated History, shalt pen the strain, 
For thou canst hold him by his forelock gray, 
And stay his wonted hurry, to explain 
What ancient glories deck'd the desolated fane. 

In days of old, near Egypt's slimy land, 
Their feathery leaves where nesh Acacias spread, 
Leaving the haunts of man, a mournful band 
By Providence and friendly midnight led, 
From chase of shouting Persecution fled ; e 
Of branches lithe their wattled walls they knit, 
Of moss and ivy made their evening bed, 
And on the green banks at their doors would sit, 
Hymning grave canticles, or conning holy writ. 

Like birds, unprison'd from a darkling grove, 
That the bright eye of prowling hawk beguiled, 
The godly race rejoiced at ease to rove ; 
Some rear'd thatch'd chapels, that on hillocks smiled 
O'er bushy tufts, and tamed a region wild ; 
Some, by a martyr's grave, with busy spade 



a Fraxinus excelsior, Linn. 

b The leaves of the ash are the latest which ap- 
pear in Spring, and the first which fall in Autumn. 
c See Brown's Vulgar Errors, b. 2, c. 6. 



d A favourite subject for painted glass, &c. 
Warton, v. i. p. 210. Gostling's Canterbury Walk, 
323. Ed. 2. 

e So Bishop Tanner, &c. but others deny it. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



391 



A small room scoop'd beneath the greensward mild ; 
An uncouth cross upon the round roof laid, 
And of the plot anear a cultured garden made. a 

Some, where a ring of rugged stones was laid, 
Like statues, on a pillar's tow'ring height, 
With knees, which Faith had chang'd to marble, prayM ; 
Their hoar trees dripped with harmless dews of night, 
Their fix'd eyes gazed unhurt meridian light ; 
— As when Jove^s eagle condescends to play, 
His plumes he ruffles, droops his winged might, 
Fronts his full eye to the attacking ray, 
And dares the burning power of Him, the Lord of Day. 

Some hermits were, who dwelTd within a rock 
Hollow, indented in a sloping ground, 
Above, an ancient tree's inclining stock 
Spread branchy arms, that shaded all around, 
Its crooked roots for beams the loose roof bound ; 
Before the entrance rude, a gentle stream 
Adown the vale its serpent courses wound, 
Seen here and there through breaks of trees to gleam, 
Gilding their dancing boughs with Noon's reflected beam. 

From oozy pores within, depended down 
Congealing stalactites in whiteness pale, 
Those mosses interwove their fibrils brown, 
Where slimy slug and house-upbearing snail 
Their tardy way in glossy streamlets trail ; 
Fearful of day, along the midnight walls 
The armed beetle shone in sable mail, 
And insect hammered loud, b that much appalls 
The rest of beldame old, who this the death-watch calls. 

Aged the sires, who dwelPd such caves within, 
Head-shaking sages, prone to moralize, 
And him disciple, who there made his inn ; 
Their cheeks were hollow, slender was their size, 
And ever on the ground they bent their eyes ; c 
One book they had, the book of holy lore, 
Against the wall a cross stood leaning-wise, 
A table small a scull and cross-bones bore, 
And bosky ivy hid the bell above the door. 

In days when such was virtue, where a wood 
Edges a green knoll, and a wide stream flows, 
Where he that woos the Moon, the vassal flood 
His march announcing, oft to greet her goes, d 



a Plantet, inserat, riget, aquas ferat, cseteraque 
Monachorum faciat opera, &c. Lopez's Epit. ut 
sup. v. 2, pp. 393, 402. 

b Ptinus fatidicus, Linn. ; engraved in Shaw's 
Naturalist's Miscell. v. iii. pi. 104. 



c This Benedict prescribed to his monks. 
C. 7. Specimen Monachologiae, p. 14. 
d The Southampton ^Estuary. 



Reg. 



392 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIWE. 



From royal boon, a holy mansion rose a 
With spires and great tow'r, topp'd with gilded vane-, 
That emblem meet of man inconstant shows ; 
The far-off seaman knew where stood the fane 
By shades, that laid at length their huge limbs o'er the main. 

Thence Vecta's b nymph u who checks the westring tide x 
With a sleek sister-lady r Ocean's queen, 
Is seen in state along the main to ride ; 
Before the team of dolphins yoked is seen 
The Triton Herald, with his tresses green ; 
While all the region-nymphs, their lyres, employ, 
In pairs parading o'er the marge serene, 
To where Southampton's youths and daughters coy 
Uncoil the tangled dance to tipsy tones of joy. 

On adverse shores, where dark woods c brow the strand, 
And boat of fisherman floats tilting by, 
The massy outworks of beak'd Calshot stand, 
Breasting the noisy waves, that quarrel nigh ; 
Work of that King, d where awe was wont descry 
Lust's putrid eye-ball, Pride's oppressing stare, 
Hatred's black frown, Ambition's bosom high 
Musing sublimely- wicked deeds of dare — 
Ah ! never Pity's dove was seen to nestle there ! e 

In middle front the gate-house high was rear'd ; 
An arch beneath o'erhung an entrance wide ; 
Within through cloisters dim the rare light peer'd ; 
The Church conventual fill'd one stately side, 
Boasting its window train in mitred pride ; 
The eaves were hid by an embattell'd screen ; 
The vacant court was simply beautified, 
All Nature's melody of colour, green, 
Had it not here and there with daisies powderM been. 

Just as a giant guards, with ample stride, 
A conquer'd brother underneath him flung, 
On straddling arches, in its sturdy pride 
Stood the great tow'r — there the loud bells were hung, 
Each under each, with gTaduated tongue, 
Supreme lords of a boundless world of tone ; 
The great bell shone its meaner peers among 
In portly pride, and its high rank was known 
By learned scroll, inscribed around its ample zone. 



■ Netley Abbey, founded by Henry III. ; 
where however the King only joined in a founda- 
tion, he was considered as sole founder. See 
something similar to this of royal rights in reli- 
gious foundations in Dean Pierce (of Sarum) 1683. 
Vindication of the King's Sovereign Rights, 
pp. 6, 7. 



b Isle of Wight. 

€ New Forest. 

d Calshot Castle, built by Henry VIII. 
' * Imitated from Collins's sweet line, "Nor ever 
vernal bee was heard to murmur there," a thought 
which he took from Euripides, " MeAio-o-a Xcifiav," 
&c. Hippol. Barnes's Edit. p. 220, v. 36. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



393 



Methinks I listen, at what horrid time 
Fork'd lightnings cleft the tented sky in twain, 
Together when these madding bells 'gan chime, 
When pealing organs stunirM the vaulted fane, 
Mix'd with a gabbling wild discordant strain 
Of fathers hurrying fast the bead-roll a round, 
When wild hail pelted on the painted pane, 
When thunder roarM along the blue profound, 
And all was one strange grand bewildering war of sound. b 

From other tower, upon whose vane the bird 
Of pertness would his dusky plumage preen, 
A stately horologe c was hourly heard, 
At prime it waked the hinds, at eve serene 
It timed their gossip on the village green ; 
To the tow'r corners pinnacles were join'd, 
Of work d that let the blue sky peep between, 
With numerous mouldings all about entwined, 
Fretted in waves, like lakes just ruffled by the wind. 

Within the Church, each side the door of wires/ 
Were blessed Saints, that stood in rows along/ 
And stalls, that upwards shot their many spires, 
Lamps, pendent from a vaulting, light yet strong 
With groins, bright fields of heraldry among ; 
A Choir of gilded tubes, whose voices deep 
With storms of musick swell'd the ritual song ; 
Hangings that shook in undulating sweep ; 
Tassels that flamed like suns, and cushions (e soft as sleep." s 

Aloft the silken gonfalons were rear'd, 
That led to Palestine the bold Crusade, 
Hard by some blade, that much by Paynim fear'd 
Enchanter Merlin* s liveried spirits made ; u 
The bearded Martyr in scoopM niche display'd 
The lifted cross and brow to Heaven upraised ; 
On high installed beneath a sculptured shade, 
The Patron-Saint's enamell'd image blazed, 
For wonder-working deeds and healing virtue praised. 

Along a tomb, which painted sculpture dress'd, 
Arm'd as for tourney, the Knight- warrior lay, 
His crossing legs a couching lion press'd, 
A helmet was his head's supporting stay, 
His limbs were maiPd in battalious array, 
A plaited gorget girt his shoulders wide/ 



a " The King's enemies were curst by name 
in the bead-roll at Paul's." Bacon's Hist. H. VII. 
p. 72. 

b This ceremony was supposed to repel evil 
spirits ; see more upon this subject in Hospin. de 
Orig. Tempi. 1. 4, c. 9, de consec. campan. 

c Abbey Orloge. 



d Tabernacle or open work. 

e Choir doors latticed. Old prints. 

f In niches in the screen. Id. 

s Theocr. Id. 14, v. 125. 

h Spens. F. Q. b. 3. c. 4, st. 59. 

' Tomb of the Black Prince at Canterbury. 



394 ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 

His belt was studded thick with bosses gay, 
The sword appendant kiss'd his stony side, 
Of rich work were his spurs, the knight's distinguish'd pride. 

Long ailes of arches sharp and pillars fine, 
A pomp of fretted pinnacles upbore, 
To form the Founder-Saint's superior shrine ; 
Like canopy the prostrate image wore, 
A model of the fane its breast before 
One hand sustain'd ; in scrawls and figures quaint, 
And letters black, that legendary lore, 
Monks loved to tattle of their valued Saint, 
They not forgot along the neighb'ring wall to paint. 

On the high cross a bleeding Christ was raised, 
Of iv'ry wrought ; from types of diamonds bright 
Inlaid in gold, a sparkling Ci Inri" blazed ; 
From every gem a drop of twinkling light 
Shot hues of rainbows on the dazzled sight ; 
Like glitter on the reliquary playM, 
Imbost with sculptures of that heav'nly fight, 
When fell a show'r of Hosts in arms array'd 
Through Chaos, and his realm of anarchy dismay'd. 

Beneath the eastern window's pictured pane, 
A canopy of fretted stone was spread, 
Pavilioning an altar's marble plain ; 
Each corner rested on an Angel's head, 
Within lay relicks of the sainted dead ; 
Two giant torches blazed perennial fires, 
A smoke of odours from the censer fled, 
The pall, that gorgeous Altar's proud attire, 
A crimson noon-day glared around the colour'd choir. 

How changed that choir, when cease of noble breath 
Was thunder'd by the great bell's sullen tongue, 
And train conventual did the rites of death ; 
The holy walls in feral black were hung', 
A dim relief the painted scutcheons flung, 
A vista reach'd down to the doorway wide 
Of lights, lamps hung the colour'd stalls among, 
Yet darkness reign'd, but in its starry pride, 
Its gloomy majesty attemper'd, dignified. 

At the Choir end, the Altar high before, 
A hearse uprear'd its melancholy mien, a 
Its fringes flounced a pomp of scutcheons bore, 
At here and there, a painted flag was seen ; b 
Where now the nodding of a plume had been, 
Like that sweet tree of sorrow, wont to grow 



* A fabric reared in the church. b See the account of the funeral of John of 

Gaunt in Dugd. St. Paul's, p. 23. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 395 

Forlorn, upon some river's margin green, 
And weeping, o'er the hurrying waves to throw 
The graces of its branch, in elegance of woe. 

By sinner rear'd for wrongful deed of yore, 
To the side Chantry, a low postern led ; 
Shrouded in such attire as beadsmen wore. 
In its dark house was laid the founder dead, 
A row of tapers a bright lustre shed, 
The name and race armorial ensigns told, 
Around the bier a sable pall was spread, 
A bright fringe guarded every curling fold, 
With threads, in warrior files with glittering spears of gold. 

About the roof a maze of mouldings slim, 
Like veins that o'er the hand of lady wind, 
Embraced in closing arms the key- stone trim, 
With hieroglyphs and cyphers quaint combined, 
The riddling art that charm' d the Gothic mind ; 
To form the floor, a scroll-depicted train 
Of glossy tiles, one seemly order join'd ; 
Deep in the wall, as far as arm could strain, 
An iron lattice mesh'd a richly tinted pane. 

Beneath that window, flowery arbours lay 
Their arms abroadwhere harlot woodbines flung, 
And shameless woo'd the winds with them to play ; 
In allies strait, espaliers prim among, 
The rough-skinn'd pear and glossy apple hung ; 
On the carved rood, that filled the central place, 
Stood hoary saints and angels " ever young ;" 
Herbs of ill savour filled the vacant space, 
With thyme, and balm, and rue, a plant renown'd for grace. 

An adverse window, shaded by a tree, 
Betray' d the school-house, with its little fry 
Buzzing, as if a civil polity 
Of bees were wont there to and fro to fly, 
And diverse trades within their straw shops ply; 
More pleasing sounds, when to the chaunted rite 
Of holy church, they wound their voices high, 
Soft was the winged musick's downy flight, 
And Echo silent was from exquisite delight. 

There too, before the monkish cowl was worn, 
Two hoary Pedagogues a tyrannic reign 
(Soon as his youthful locks were closely shorn) 
Tutor' d the Novice to a life of pain, 
Harsh as of maids, whom aunts unmarried train 
Deceiver man at distance meet to hold ; 
When of the bright-hair' d monarch's fiery wain 
One journey through the pictured signs was told, 
In list of Monks profess'd that Novice was inroll'd. 

a The masters of the novices were to be old men. Lynd. Oxf. ed. p. 144. 



396 ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 

He, on such day, in a sequester'd cell, 
On all the hierarchies of Heaven would call, 
To witness that he bade the world farewell ; 
Ere long the Prior fill'd his fretted stall, 
And hooded many lined the Chapter wall, 
Ere long the sound of coming feet they hear'd, 
A gentle buz began of murmurs small, 
Against the door a trembling form appear'd, 
Whose pale looks marked how much the solemn scene he fear'd. 

Slowly he moved with head upon his breast, 
And bent his knee the Prior's throne before ; 
His hands were by the trembling Prior prest : 
All silent gazed, the book of holy lore 
In solemn step the grave Precentor bore. 
A due pause made to aid his faulfring tongue, 
A triple piety of vows a he swore, 
His lips thrice on the quiv'ring volume hung, 
And thrice a loud Amen along the arches rung. 

Then two and two they march'd, and loud bells tolPd, 
One from a sprinkle b holy water flung, 
This bore the relicks in a chest of gold, 
On arm of that the swinging censer hung, 
Another loud a tinkling handbell rung, 
Four fathers went that ringing Monk behind, 
Who suited psalms of holy David sung, 
Then o^er the cross a stalking sire inclined ; 
And banners of the church went waving in the wind. c 

Next, while the fane with unwont splendour blazed 
Against the lighted altar's velvet plain,d 
Behold him kneel, his hands to Heaven upraised ; 
Visions of glory burst upon his brain, 
Jesu's meek form, and the immortal train 
Of white-robed Saints a bright procession hold, 
Ambrosial dews in misty fragrance rain, 
And woven light from Seraph skirts unrolPd 
Gleams on their sattin plumes of pure white dropt with gold. 

Louder and louder swells the choral song, 
The mighty sounds a grander dream inspire, 
The holy hosts around the Altar throng, 
In sudden extacy the Seraph quire 
With God's own Antiphonar strike the wire ; 
Dark clouds upon the burning glory rest, 
And light excessive vaults the fane with fire ; 
He joins the bright assemblage of the blest, 
And glides with them away, a Heaven-admitted guest. 



a Poverty, constancy, and obedience. 

1 Holy- water sprinkle. 

* Besides these there were the ceroferarii or can- 



dlestick-bearers, the deacon reading the gospel, &c. 
d Highly illuminated on festivals and great occa- 
sions. Monast. v. 3. Ecc. Cath. p. 241. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



397 



PART THE SECOND. 

With clouted shoon at tiptoe peep of morn, 
Oft as the herdsman shook the dews away, 
He eyed from window small, the forehead shorn 
Of elder Monk, with curl of silver gray. 
Gazing if foul or fair uprose the day ; 
And chanced the bell of prime to tinkle, while 
His lowing herds would wander from the way, 
To top the wall he scaled the neighboring stile, 
And viewed the gownsmen march by pairs into the aile. 

In stately wise first stalkM the Abbot proud, 
And every footstep shook his hood behind, 
A man much greater than the monkish crowd, a 
And called My Lord, his ceremonious mind 
Was to the study of his state confined ; 
The Monks that heard him, ever would commend 
What fine words he with lordly gestures joined ; 
This Abbot when he willed to condescend, 
Would courteous smile, and call ignoble Monk his friend. 

Next hied the Cell'rer, to whose belt was joinM, 
A clang of keys ; a man quite lank and spare 
Through fretting much lest aught should be purloin'd ; 
Whenever he assized the daily fare, 
He surely talked of loss, and waste and wear. b 
Next he, c to whom, at to-fall of the year, 
The louting vassals were enjoined to bear 
The portioned kingly coin, or autumn's cheer ; d 
They knew how much he chid, nor dared to leave arrear. 

With an hoar compeer next the Sacrist went, 
Of things religious he had custody, 
It was his bliss, the holy ornament, 
At the magnificence of mass, to see 
In order meet and seemly decency : 
The pure stream he in silver vase e would bring 
For pious needs, and on his doubled knee 
Would bid a bead, and wet each holy thing ; 
No lurking fiend but yelPd, and sped his leathern wing. f 



a Vestri autem ocuuli omne sublime vident, 
&c. St. Bern, of Abbots, in Ep. 42. Ad Hen. 
Senon. Arch, apud Lopez's Epit. V. 2, p. 401. 
Quando plus desiderant in palatio regis versari (viri 
religiosi) St. Greg, in p. 405. See also L. 14, C. 
30,31. 

b This character is entirely fictitious. 

Thesaurarius, or Bursar. 



d Full. Ch. H. 298. Spellm. in Firmis. 

e One of silver, enchased with images and vine- 
leaves, a handle of two dragons, and a sprinkle of 
ivory, belonged to St. Paul's Cath. Monast. v. 3. 
Ecc. Cath. p. 310. 

f See the form of consecrating holy water in the 
Salisbury Manual. 



398 ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 

His compeer hoar the Leech's a calling plied, 
Herbs aromatic, dangling in a noose, 
For medicines to the sick-house beams he tied ; 
He knew the learned name of each, the juice, 
And moon's age when it should be cull'd for use; 
If 'chance his herbs were unavailing found, 
He would, from a much-treasured volume, chuse 
The powers of words of most unwieldy sound, 
And add the gestures meet that to those words were bound. 

Then with the Dean came he b who bore the seal, 
In him the Chapter band were wont confide 
Concerns to chronicle of common weal ; 
Evening in vain in vernal skies has tried 
The tints to pencil c this old sire supplied ; 
Within his stall, less noble Monks before, 
A stand was raised, and there in lifted pride 
Leading the Choir his arm aloft he bore, 
His bony tablets shook, and stamped the sounding floor. 

Last came the trusty man of watch and ward, 
A massy key from his bent elbow hung, 
Of goers all he kept a keen regard, 
Or question'd them with peremptory tongue ; 
At prime and eve his larum bell he rung, d 
If to his lodge enquiring strangers went, 
His turning window on its hinge he flung, 
And, if he so could tell his mind's intent, 
Would talk by alphabet of arms and fingers bent. 

At cease of bell, ere yet the rites began, 
By massy bolts the latticed doors were bound, 
The speeding Chantor through the office ran ; 
And now the Choir turn'd to the east around, 
Or bow'd at name of Jesu to the ground ; 
The prying Dean would sum the gather' d band, 
And truant Monk if frequent truant found, 
With pursed-up brow and angry waving hand, 
To scanty fare, and jail of fearful thought command. 

(For some there were, when blew the tassel'd horn, 
And all the bosky valleys shook for dread, 
On the hill tops who met the Youth of Morn, 
As from the waves he reared his glorious head ; 
O'er gossy heaths on fleeting palfreys sped ; 
With jolly hunters not ashamed to hoot, 
Haply if roused from her rush-woven bed, 
Upsprung the fearful game with flying foot, 
And all the chase began a musical pursuit.) 



• Physician. 

b Precentor, or Chantor. 



c For the Limners. 

d Spens. F. Q. b. 2, c, 9, st. 25. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



399 



On that most holy day that heads the seven, 
Acting his wavy arm and goggling eyes, 
The Preacher Monk would mix the lore of Heaven 
With tales the Phrygian sage a was wont devise, 
And Fancy's wildest world of quaint surprise. 
(Scorn not the light step of the airy maid, 
Nature herself, albeit that she is wise, 
To make the insect's wing besought her aid, 
And sweetly smiled to see what beauteous tints she laid.) 

To Chapter next, the gowned procession came 
For sage consult, and Founder's daily rite 
To chant, at each articulated name 
A saintly form shot by in robes of white, 
And features indistinct of palest light, 
Selected next from guiltless Monks among, 
Exposed delinquents trembled with affright, 
These on their breasts their silly faces hung, 
While language barb'd with fire flew from the Prior's tongue. 

While thus the Monks, before the open'd gate 
A mincing palfrey, with a waving load 
Of gorgeous trapping, shook his bells b in state. 
Seeking his neighbour baron's arm'd abode, 
O'er quilted sell c the lordly Abbot strode, 
Spurring his palfrey o'er the field amain, 
With tarsel perch'd upon his fist he rode, 
And now he lean'd upon the jingling rein, 
And his lank dogs of speed d ran stretching o'er the plain. 

While thus the Abbot, to the elmy shade 
That girt the grange, e the humbler Cell'rer hied, 
A swinging porthose from his girdle play'd, 
Close to his cheek his russet hood was tyed ; 
Unlike that Abbot swell'd with worldly pride 
He rode a steed f of most ill-favour'd view, 
Sharp hips, and staring ribs, and shaggy hide ; 
Going, the shame of loit'ring monk he knew, 
The shame of shoulders streak'd with stripes of livid blue.s 

Meanwhile along the cloister's painted h side, 
The Monks (each bending low upon his book 
With head on hand reclined) their studies plied ; 
Forbid to parly, or in front to look, 



a Esop. b Common appendages to bridles. 

c Saddle. 

d Greyhounds. See Wart. v. 2, p. 221. 

e Abbey Granges abounded with timber. Full, 
Ch. H. 337. 

f Ordered to be despecti et deformes, in Monast 
t. 2, p. 750. 



s No Monk in Const. Bened. 12 Nigr. Monach. 
was to travel without his hood close, and portvoise, 
porthose or breviary, and if he exceeded his al- 
lotted time, was to carry half-naked a ferula from 
the parletory door through the cloister to the chap- 
ter, and there be beaten. Concil. v. 2, p. 608. 

h With texts called carols, &c. Wart. v. 2, 
p. 424. 



400 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE, 



Lengthways their regulated seats they took ; 
The strutting Prior gazed with pompous rriein, 
And wakeful tongue, prepared with prompt rebuke, 
If Monk asleep in sheltering hood was seen ; 
He wary often peep'd beneath that russet screen . a 

Hard by, against the windows' adverse light, 
Where desks were wont in length of row to stand, 
The gown'd artificers inclined to write ; 
The pen of silver glisten'd in the hand : 
Some on their fingers rhyming Latin scann'd ; b 
Some textile gold from balls unwinding drew, 
And on strain'd velvet stately portraits plann'd ; 
Here arms, there faces shone in embryo view, 
At last to glittering life the total figures grew. c 

Perchance with train immense of knights and squires, 
Some noble Dame admires the cloister wall, 
Its scroDs of texts and painted gests admires, 
The Prior points with white wand d long and small, 
And whispers low what this, what that to call ; 
Perchance he shows in pictures of the loom, 
Some Chief who fills in Glory's fane a stall, 
Some King, who living look'd a nation's doom, 
Or Hero arm'd, whose nod shook conquest from his plume. e 

At noon-hour (did no fleshless day betide) f 
On posied trenchers s the plain cates were spread, 
The snow-white egg, the fish's corned side, 
Domestic fowl by barn-door plenty fed, 
And best of nutriment fermented, bread ; 
No thirst was their* s but what that juice could pall, 
The sugarM ears of bearded barley shed ; 
An aged Monk h was marshal of the hall, 
There walking to and fro the servitours * to call. 

From due ablution, at the vaulted door, 
The entering Monks stood each one with his mate, 
At the two tables of the lowest floor, 
Their looks directing to the spiry state 
Of chair much-sculptured, where the Prior sate ; 
To this where transversely a board was spread, 
Inferior lordlings of the convent ate ; 
As pass'd the Prior, all depress'd the head, 
Loud rung a tinkling bell, and wonted grace was said. 



a Wilkins's Concil. v. 2, pp. 45, 610. 

b The Leonine verse, whose origin Warton 
leaves uncertain, Lord Roscommon attributes to 
the Druids. Poems, ed. Tons. 1717, p. 47. But 
instances have been found sportively among the 
classicks. A conceit always pleases bad taste ; 
and hence it became admired and frequent. 

c Embroidered vestments. 

* Coll. Peer. v. 6, p. 419. 



e Tapestry, in which the gests of Alexander, the 
Trojan heroes, &c. were favourite subjects. Wart, 
v. 1, p. 210, v. 2, p. 227, &c. 

f When they fasted till the evening collations. 
i s With flowers in the centre, and posies round 
them. Gent. Mag. 1794, p. 407. 

11 The Refectioner. 

' Famuli refectorii, &c. Concil. v. 2, p. 246. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



401 



The Prior gave the signal word, aloud 
The Reader 'gan the lore of God reveal ; 
At the first stated pause, the holy crowd 
Turned to the board in instantaneous wheel, 
And solemn silence a markM their instant meal ; 
The Prior to the Reader bow'd, again 
They turn'd, the Sacrist rang a tinkling peal, 
Last grace was said, and carolling a strain 
Of David, two and two withdrew the hooded train. 

Then while the bright sun march 'd along the sky, 
With his spread banner broad of golden sheen, 
Kind Sleep his soft hand laid on monkish eye, 
Silence reserved enjoyM the peaceful scene, 
And musing stalk'd the space of beds between ; 
He who did nought these brethren friends esteem, 
Would at a cloister window studious lean, 
Gazing with fix'd eyes in a kind of dream, 
Or stooping with low brow to pore upon his theme. 

(He thought, where ancient Isis winds her way, 
To hear Apollo* s lute of silver sound, 
And sisters nine chant their alluring lay, 
To see by all their worshippers renownM, 
About his brows a laureat wreath be wound, 
A train of convents to parade his praise, 
A train of abbots proud, with mitres crowned, 
Of knights, whose helmets stole the sunny rays, 
And barons with wrought cloaks of gorgeous noon-day blaze.) b 

Then where the Porter in his lodge secure, 
With open porthose c sat, and connM his prayers, 
A multitude of old and female poor 
Assembled, canvassing their own affairs, 
Usage unneighbourly, or household cares, 
Ere long the Almoner in lifted view 
JBeckon'd their way unto the gatehouse stairs ; 
Their puckerM aprons into folds they drew, 
And Almoner therein the victual fragments threw. d 

Soon as the weary day was westering far, 
And nightmares squab with waking howl upsprung, 
To drag some ugly dream's fantastic car, 
The branchy lamp a yellow radiance flung, 



* In this, as in other respects, resembling the 
Essenes. Prid. Connect, ed. 2, 8vo. v. 3, p. 485, 
seq. Also the ancient monks, Lop. Epit. v. 1, 
p. 552. 

The monks took their degrees with prodigious 
parade. 



c Breviary — suspended to the monks' girdles, 
for their constant study at times of leisure. 

d The almoner or servants of the refectory only, 
were to collect the fragments after dinner, and 
distribute them to the poor. Wilkins's Concil, 
v. 2, p. 246. 

2 D 



402 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



And to his harp the hosted Minstrel sung a 
His chiming song b of Wizard, Fay, or Sprite, 
Along the wires his lightning fingers rung, 
His meteor eyeballs blazed with strange delight, 
And sparkling flames outrushM and skirmish'd with the night. 

Or p'rhaps while melody that minstrel made, 
Some proper Tutor and the Novice train, 
In dress dramatic holy writ arrayed ; 
Here with bright eyes and cheek of rosy stain 
A smiling David tripp'd o^er Elan's plain ; 
There in the studied looks of Saul were shown, 
Hoped and yet fear'd success, dissembled pain ; 
(A youth by his ungainly limbs overgrown, 
Strutted with weighty sword the man of mighty bone.) 

(Were it a certain mirth-exulting day, 
The Abbot-fool, through the high windowed hall, 
With rabble comrades marchM in rude array. 
Deck'd with the mitre, sandals, staff, and pall, 
He scaled the laughing choir's superior stall, 
His ruffian train pair'd off on either side, 
Strange was the scene, when they endeavoured all 
The chanted mass with discords to divide, 
And howl'd and yelPd and grinn'd and hiss'd and laughed and cried.) ( 

Or perhaps was dragg'd into some area forth, 
To sturdy Mastives that stood watching nigh, 
A Bear, the hairy native of the North ; 
Methinks I see him roll his angry eye, 
Against his furry sides the Mastives fly, 
They snap, and show their teethes embattled row, 
He growls and on his hind feet ramping high, 
Between his closed paws grasps a dying foe, 
Whose eyes jut from his head, and flaggy tongue hangs low. 

Or perhaps a train of jigging Puppets d dance 
Their wooden muscles hard and nerves of wire, 
Or here and there the nimble fingers glance 
Of Tregetour, e with him in quaint attire 
Who ribbands eats, and vomits flames of fire ; 
Quite happy Monks, did nature's general law 
Let simple man to feats so great aspire, 
But no, beneath the cover' d board they saw, 
The grand fiend^s visage grim and horns and horrid claw. 



a To minstrels supping in the painted chamber 
with the sub -prior, &c. &c. Comput. Maxt. Pri. 
in Wart. v. 2, p. 106. See more in v. 1, p. 89, seq. 

b The minstrel versification is remarkable for 
alliteration, or words beginning with the same 



letter, and a monotonous modulation proceeding 
from the absence of the caesura. 

c Feast of Fools. 

d The most ancient amusement in this country. 
Wart, from memory. 

e Juggler. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 403 

Or perhaps to gambol in the slanting sun. 
The menial train to grassy leas withdrew, 
With pensioned sires whose days of deed were done, 
Then where two banks of green turf met the view, 
They tugg'd alternately their bows of yew, 
And 'chance the grove of bristling shafts among, 
A gifted one had pierced the centre true, 
With peals of loud applause the welkin rung, 
And the gray sires ^gan tell what they atchieved when young. a 

All sudden stopp'd — the great bell's sullen roar 
Proclaim'd the day's, the toil's, the pastime's close, 
The dormitory oped its massy door, 
From pendent lamps a circling smoke arose, 
The fleecy pallets lay along in rows, 
Each proper one by wall between confined, 
There couch'd the Monk, nor doffed his russet cloaths, 
For he who dared his cover' d limbs unbind, 
Was surely chid, and deem'd to freakish sins inclined. 



PART THE THIRD. 

In iron times when laws of battle were, 
That weakly folk, of prowess small in fight, 
The galling gyves of vassalage should bear ; b 
Ere Castle Seneschalls with pale affright 
Heard the shrill horn wind of the errant knight, 
A foeman firm affianced to be 
To all who wronged the feeble of their right ; 
Such folk the Church let from their thraldom free, 
A deed that had not shamed the knight of chivalry. 

The holy Church too in those iron times, 
With dreadful sanctity of forms array 5 d, 
A pomp of shows for cognizance of crimes, 
It might false charge uncourteous rumour laid, 
Of foulest blot on fame of gentle maid ; 
Her eyes were veiled, her lilly feet were bare, 
A burning row the ploughshares nine displayed, 
The guileless maid was heaven's peculiar care, 
Angels her veil upheld, and Cherubs cried ei Beware/' 

Was it that sin so much to beldames' shame, 
Of horsing broomstaves through the vault of night, 
And calling talon'd devils up by name, 
Who coming would for sport the neighbours fright ; 



a Antiq. Selb. p. 414. Servants were even 
obliged to travel with bows and arrows, in order 
to practise with them. Dairies Barrington's letter 
on Archery, in Archseol. v. 7. 

b The feodal system. 

c Manumission of slaves. Roberts. Ch. 5, ed. 



8vo. v. 1, 329 seq. Manumission began in the 
reign of Constantine, Eus. Vit. Const, b. 2, c. 32 
and was performed in the Church before three wit- 
nesses. Dion. Exig. Justell. Biblioth. Afi. Can. 
64. Bever. Trul. Can. 85. 

2 D 2 



404 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE, 



Such beldames' arms and feet they corded tight, 
Plunged them in pools, and on the green banks stood 
Wond'ring, if they to the arch-wicked sprite 
In hellish deed had signed their names in blood, 
For such bad beldames always sunk beneath the flood. 

Judicial duels (so the times behoved, 
When men were wont oft from her lifted throne 
To shoulder Justice) holy Church approved ; 
With heaps of arms the sacred courts were strown, 
And glittering death on points of lances shone, 
A beauteous band of blue-eyed maidens came, 
And she whose guilty love was over- thrown, 
Would hide her eyes, and hang her head for shame, 
Tearing the silken gifts of that unworthy flame. 

And in those iron days, if fell despight 
Of feodal chieftain gall'd the bosom sore ; 
The relick hoard was sunn'd by unknown light, 
And on the thighbone of a saint he swore, 
Spite to eschew, as taught God's holy lore. 
Nor dared false fear that feodal chief to feign, 
For monk would deep in his remembrance store 
The ruthful banquet of a bragging Dane, 
Who was by sword unseen of scorn'd St. Edmund slain. a 

And in those iron times, no forest wide 
But shrouded robbers and assassins fell, 
For Justice knew not well her way to guide, 
Not having Custom's clue, to that lorn cell 
Where they were wont 'mid ferns and briars dwell ; 
Can there be one in better ages born, 
Who has not heard exulting infants tell, 
Of Robin Hood, his bow and bugle horn, 
And how he chased the deer o'er Sherwood's wilds forlorn ? 

Ah me ! much irks it fearful mind to tell, 
Such trespass vile how holy Church dispraised ; 
In middle mass, the great reluctant bell 
By minutes toll'd, the cross on high was raised, 
And now the lighted torch that sudden blazed, 
As sudden quench' d, a dreary symbol shew'd; b 
The kneeling sinner in dumb horror gazed, 
The mass priest's cheek with burning blushes glow'd, 
While slowly syllabled these formal curses flow'd. 

" Dark be those eyes, that dare with lust behold 
" Another's earnings, in eternal night :" 
Amen, and slowly once the great bell toll'd ; 
" Those hands be shrivell'd by a withering blight, 



a Swearing upon relicks. King Sweyne was 
thus said to have been punished at Gainsborough, 
fcr having threatened to plunder the Monastery 
and relicks of St. Edmund's Bury. Lyd. Life of 
St. Edm. in Wart. v. 2, p. 56. 



b Ceremonies of the greater excommunication. 

c This imprecation is taken from a formula 
printed in Robertson's Ch. V. § Proofs, &c. vol. 1, 
p. 398, ed. 8vo. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 405 

"That wealth purvey by deeds of unjust might/' 
Amen, and once the great bell tolPd again ; 
u Like fortune on the guilty limbs alight, 
" Such hands that aid ;" at end of every strain 
The great bell tolFd, Amen responded all the train. 

" Be all thy days incessant cursed with toil ; 
" Be void of rest, and yet to rest inclined ; 
" Be all thy booty but another's spoil ; 
" Bewild'ring jeopardies o'erhang thy mind, 
" Nor backward look but foes pursuing find ; 
u Of peril quit, still to thy listening ear 
te A speeding horseman sound in every wind ; 
"Till lacking crimson life thy carcase fear, 
" Through never-ceasing pain shall press an early bier. 

" And soon as doom'd to press that early bier, 
ee In damned talons be thy soul convey'd 
" To the accursed house of Death and Fear 
" And Darkness ; there be thy allotment made 
u With Judas a who the Lord of Life betray'd ; 
" Refining in expurgatory flame, 
" Be there thy agonizing spirit laid, 
" Until immaculate of sin and shame, 
" It meet be to invoke a Saviour's hallow'd name. 

" Long as such sins thy guilty soul imbue, 
" So long these curses in dread force remain, 
" So long these curses shall those sins pursue ;" b 
Amen — Amen returned the total train, 
Fiat — a general Fiat shook the fane ; 
Still kneeFd that robber, with erected hair 
And features smiling horribly with pain, 
Now Frenzy roll'd his eyes, and now Despair 
Changed them to sightless orbs with petrifying stare. 

Such were the customs of our days of old, 
For not those days the sun of science cheer'd ; 
Our song historical must now unfold 
More mournful tales ; when holy Henry c steer'd 
The bark of state, a novel race appear'd, 
Who rules to preach and proselyte obey*d, 
Though for their home a proper fane was rear'd, 
No annual bounty to the fane was paid, 
For all the Friar race were mendicants by trade. 

Unwise it was, for mendicants by trade 
Are skilPd their tongues, as chrystal smooth, to file, 
Their fanes were with unequal pomp array'd, 
Much as these sons of honey-dropping guile, 

* A common denunciation in early charters. I b Roberts, C. 5, ed. 8vo. v. 1, p. 3.98. Coro- 

See Monast. v. 3. Ecc. Cath. pp. 126, 303, 4, 5, j pare an anathema in Wilkins's Concil. v. 1, p. 

&c. Canute consigns the infringers of one of his ! 283. c H. III. A. D. 1221. 

charters to torture by devils in iron frying-pans, — j 

ferreis sartaginibus. Id. p. 130. I 



406 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



Could flatter, talk, profess, and cringe and smile ; 
" For ever they to conscience would appeal, 
" If idle Monk ought live by other's toil, 
" No envy their's, it was becoming zeal 
" To speak the truth of those, who damaged public weal." a 

Who sees not faults ? and faults in Monks there were, 
The Monk not scorn' d to play the juggler's part, b 
Penance aloft his whip of wire might bear, 
More mighty Nature would disdain the smart; 
The hand that toil'd not, could but waste the mart ; 
And crimes were rife, for crimes through them had grace, 
The Monk not knew within his bounded heart, 
That scope of feeling for our general race, 
That, like the eye of God, admits no bound of place. 

The day was come, and what has not its day ? 
All things regard from use or pleasance gain, 
Nor longer needed was the dread array 
Of superstitious thunder, to restrain 
Hunters and warriors in a feodal reign ; 
Commerce was building bourses d on the land, 
Aided by Industry, Art's handmaid train, 
And Plenty boon, a nymph was with the band 
CalPd Printing, almost deem'd to wield a magic wand* 

The day was come — Fame trumpeted abroad 
A six-times-wedded Monarch's ban of wrath ; 
Upstarting War unsheathed his instant sword, 
Rebellion e led her rabble-legions forth, 
Her flag unfurling in the stormy North ; 
Along the clamorous vanguard stalk'd Despair, 
While busy Superstition nerved the loth ; 
Pale Injury laid her bleeding bosom bare, 
And RevYence show'd with dust defiled his hoary hair. 

This horrid while, against the fane forlorn 
The banded fiends of hell unwearied toil'd, 
High on a pinnacle stood grinning Scorn, 
The axe of false Zeal charms of art defiled, 
And talon'd Sacrilege lookM up and smiled, 
With severing engine as she vestments shore, 
Recorded good erasing Envy spoil' d, 
While snatching Violence the charters tore, 
And scrambling Rapines off the flying fragments bore. f 



a The Jesuitical practices of the begging orders 
first brought the Monks into disrepute. See their 
character in Thynne's Chauc. p. 617, and Somp- 
nour's Tale. The writings of Wickliff destroyed 
their reputation in return. See Knighton, col. 2665. 
Conscious of the superior learning of the Friars, the 
Monks built small colleges at Oxford for the better 
education of their novices, and thus began our Uni- 
versities on their present footing. Wart. v. 1, 
p. 283, seq. 



b False Miracles, images with springs, &c. 

c Sanctuary. 

d The term is here used figuratively. 

e In A.D. 1536 on account of the dissolution 
of monasteries. It was called the Pilgrimage of 
Grace, and in their ensigns they had our Saviour 
crucified, the host and chalice, &c. Medull. 
Histor. p. 207. Godwin's Annals, p. 65. 

1 The visitors destroyed the Monasteries imme- 
diately on their falling into their hands. Will. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 



407 



For Monk until a figure new they made, 
Four fiends were busied in a secret nook, 
The fit materials stammering Ign'rance laid, 
For Prejudice, that could but one way look, 
Hypocrisy, that thumVd the sacred book, 
And crabbed Austerity, that smiling blamed ; 
For speech they texts of holy scripture took, 
For his stiff neck a band dependent framed, 
And this their figure new a Puritan surnamed. a 

Sedition meanwhile in black gall imbued, 
A sheaf of arrows from her quiver'd store, 
And with that archery the monks pursued, 
Who fled the Giant Danger's strides before, 
And trunk of tree his breadth of shoulder bore ; b 
The deed was done ; the looking fiends were dumb ; 
When fleeing all at once, the air they tore 
With yells that midnight travellers benumb, 
Groans of the damnM in hell, and shrieks of Doomsday come. 

So fell the Monkish fane, and we might deem 
Were here and there not ivied ruins spread, 
It ne'er had been, or but a first sleep's dream ; 
It fell, and doom'd to hide her banish'd head 
For ever, Gothic Architecture fled ; c 
Forewarn'd she left in one most beauteous place, 
That much might of her ancient fame be said, 
Her pendent roof, her windows' branchy grace, 
Pillars of cluster'd reeds, and tracery of lace. d 

Be courteous, Commerce — in no sullen mood 
Too harshly gibe the Monk's less active bent ; 
For from thy foeman Baron's wassails rude, 
Where sanctuary a holy dwelling lent, 
The wattled flocks, the craftsman's canvas tent, 
The morrice-dancer with his marrion queen, 
And the famed dog of British hardiment 
Baiting the bull and bear, were frequent seen 
In motley crowds to sport along the peopled green . e 

Be courteous, Commerce — there are bridges high, 
Ranging their salient angles o'er the strand, 
Which the Monks rear'd ; where some proud dwellings lie, 
A fane exorcised agues from the land ; f 



Mitr. Abb. Introd. p. 53, seq. Id. Princ. Relig. 
Hous. p. 274. Religious buildings did not cease 
to be plundered till the 14th Eliz. upon a criminal 
process being issued against the offenders. Dugd. 
St. Paul's, p. 45. 

a Puritanism arose from the translation of the 
Bible becoming common, being misunderstood, 
and the aversion from popery producing a contrary 
extreme. Wart. v. 2, p. 547. Bands are said to 
be invention of this sect. 

b The Court of Augmentations appointed the 
disincorporated monks to vacant benefices, in or- 



der to ease the exchequer of their salaries ; and the 
endeavours of these men to restore their perished 
institution produced the proclamation of 1547 
against preaching. Id. v. 3, p. 197. 

c Gothic architecture first became mixed with 
the Greek style in Henry the Eighth's reign. 

d Henry VII. 's chap, at Westminster. 

e Monasteries assisted commerce by procuring 
markets and fairs. Spelm. Gloss, p. 264. 

f Croyland Abbey reared upon piles in the fens 
of Lincolnshire. Bibliotheca Topographica Bri- 
tannica, vol. iii. No. xi. 



408 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE, 



Hard by conceive its buttress rows to stand, 
A nd fine perspective of a range of spires ; 
Where lie yon leas, uppluckM by monkish hand, 
Their rushes crackled on the daily fires, 
Monks delved that foss where-through the brumal flood retires.* 

Be courteous, Learning — think what Monks would write, 
Figuring strange signs they had wizards seen; 
Seen dapper fairies by the Moon's pale light, 
In quaint rings dance about their tiny queen ; 
Grim ghosts with stony eyes flit o^er the green ; 
Steeds of bright brass that to the board updrew, 
Where sat the Soldan with astonished mien ; b 
Or dragons, such as George of Britain slew, 
Spout smoky hurricanes of flame and sulphurs blue. c 

(Truth, I would fain but cannot thee commend, 
For thou art Superstition's enemy, 
And she to Song has been an ancient friend ; 
Can'st thou not hide the terrors of thine eye, 
Hold down thy mirror, and pass smiling by ? 
Must we thy beams depopulating rue ? 
Yes, and the visionary race must fly ; 
Bat stay thy steps, imperious maid, and view 
One backward glance of scorn, their noble proud adieu.) 

Be courteous, Learning — tales of times of old 
Of Troynovant, of ancient British land, 
For you the monkish Chroniclers have told ; 
Before you, lo ! the greybeard Fathers stand, 
Holding the holy Martyrs by the hand; 
Lo classic Bards, with their thrice triple train 
Of Attic ladies, sing at your command; 
Say could a gifted Poet form a strain 
For Oxford's earl, d that not attends the monkish fane ? 

Learning, some monks were very deeply taught, 
Speech they could all into its parts divide/ 
But these knew how to prank a showy thought/ 
And a minutely-subtle science plied, 
Drawn from the lore that man to God allied ;S 
Our laws they tinctur'd with that Emp'ror^s page, 
AmalfPs rocks were fated long to hide, 11 
Who could like them with mighty quibbles wage, 
The syllogistic war of famed Stagyra's sage ; { 



a For the improvement of desart lands by mo- 
nasteries, see Roberts. C. 5th, ed. 8vo. v. i. p. 
244 ; Andrew's Anecdotes, art. Lazy Monks. 

b Chauc. Squier's tale. Milt. P. L. b. 1, v. 763. 
To ride through the hall to the high table, was a 
favourite custom in the days of chivalry. 

c The monks often wrote for the minstrels. 
Wart. v. 1, p. 87. 



d Alluding to the Harleian collection of MSS. 

e Grammar. f Rhetoric. 

s Scholast. Theology. 

h Pandects of Justinian. Andrews from Pfeffel 
asserts, that the Civil Law was studied before the 
discovery of Justinian's code at Amain, for the 
history of which romantic place, see Swinb. Trav. 
v. 2, p. 149. * Logic. 



ECONOMY OF MONASTIC LIFE. 409 

Learnings this lore is deemed of nought to be, 
Unlovely we from trial sad attest, 
Yet hence the scornful Nymph Philosophy, 
In robe succinct for loosely-floating vest, 
Was by the matron strict Precision drest ; a 
And had not hooded Superstition flung 
On speech o'er vulgar wont her high behest, 
The sluggard schoolboy ne'er had lisp'd the tongue, 
That Tully chastely spoke, and Maro chastely sung. 

Shades of past fame, farewell ! the glooms ye cast ! 
The melancholy pleasure ye have bred ! 
There are, who fain would fly into the past, 
And where I but a weeping pilgrim tread, 
As cowl'd monks hide for aye the aching head ! 
Alas ! there now are no Elysian bowers, 
To sepulchre among the living dead, 
A lost thing, when Life's day in tempests lours, 
And Grief the painted wings rends of the shrieking Hours. 

Pause, cries a willowed Youth, in shades like these, 
With hopeless flames a virgin victim glows, 
The pride of needy ancientry to please, 
For ever lost to love, my only rose, 
The sweetest flower of all my Eden blows, 
Go, weeping girl ; and I for life must bear 
An icy soul, enwrapt in winter's snows, 
And corpse-eyed visage, of white marble glare, 
So changed by gazing on the Gorgon ghost, Despair. 



Scholastic learning introduced precision into Philosophy. Life of M. Turgot, p. 11 



410 



Cfce Criumpf)0 of Vengeance ; 

OR 

THE COUNT OF JULIAN. 

AN ODE. 
IN THE MANNER OF GRAY. 



This Ode is founded on the following event in the Spanish History, as related 
by Heylyn (Cosmography, p. 213) : "Of this province (Tingitana) was Julianus 
Governor in the time of Roderick, who (Julian) being of the faction of the sons 
ofVitiza (the last king), stomached his (Roderick's) advancement to the king- 
dom ; and thereby got the greater portion of the king's displeasure ; who send- 
ing him upon an embassy to the Moors of Africa, in the mean time deflowered his 
daughter, named Cava (Cuba in Mr. Russel), which the father took in such 
indignation, that he procured the Moors, amongst whom he had gotten much 
credit, to come over into Spain. This request they performed under the con- 
duct of Musa and Tariff, and having made a full conquest a° 729, subjected it to 
the great Caliphs or Mahometan Emperors/-* 

There is a translated poem on the same subject in a collection by Mr. Russel, 
published at Oxford some years ago. I remember no more of it, than that it 
interested me extremely, and was one of the finest of that fine wreath of Par- 
nassian Flowers. The excellent moral of the story will be visible : and this was 
my inducement to reduce it to verse. 

I. 1. 

From the morning grey and still 

Fast the dews of night retire ; 
Wide along the heathy hill, 

Burns a blazing stream of fire ; 
Dark before the glittering gleam, 

Shadows black of horsemen dance ; 
A steely light with starry beam, 

Glimmers from the shivering lance : 
Down the mountain, grand and slow, 
Processioning in state they go : 
In a bright cloud they close their firm array ; 

Throbbings of glory from the clarions sound ; 
Before them rolls the thunder of their way ; 

Before them darkness sweeps the shaking ground ; 
Heard ye the shout, that rent the air? 
Saw ye the brandished spear, and flash of fiery glare ? 



TRIUMPHS OF VENGEANCE. 411 

I. 2. 

Like the wood's edge at deep of night 

Striking back the heedless eye ; 
Gazing for the coming fight ; 

Dark and terrible we lie ; 
Silence dread and whispers low, 
Panting expectation show ; 
With outstretched arms and streaming eyes, 
Thus the impassioned father cries ; 
" Flower of hope, of fragrance wide, 

ee Gem, that deck'd the green bank's swell, 
cs No more upon thy painted pride, 

« My gazing tenderness will dwell. 
" Lightnings of Fury through my eyeballs dart, 
"The worm of shame sleeps not, that twines around my heart." 

1.3. 

" Maiden of the shining eyes, 

" Cava dear and Cava fair, 
ce Starting tears, and stealing sighs, 

" Would a father's pride declare ; 
" Sweet the summer breeze, that blows 
" Lightly from the dancing rose ; 
" Soft the silver glitter shed 
" From the violet's weeping head ; 
" Gay the bird's new-feather' d wing, 
" Gay the fresh-born leaf of spring : 
" So sweet, so soft, so gay, 
" The meeken'd lustre of her vernal day ; 
" When in the dance her graceful way she moved, 
" In speechless agonies of bliss I loved ; 
" The flushes of her beauty sunk my eyes, 
(i To thoughtless vacancy, and melting soft surprize/' 

II. 1. 

See the wind (the day is still) 

The poplar's twinkling verdure shed ; 
Ah ! the judgment from the hill 

Shows through the cloud his awful head ! 
Speedy death and present fear, 

Guilty King, there vow to thee 
Men, that never shed a tear, 

Stormy or sullen as the sea ; 
Does the robber ever laugh ? 

Does the wolf's eye lose its fire ? 
These the bleeding life that quaff, 

No human sympathies inspire : 
Revenge, that shows what man can do, 
Unfurl our banners thus, and terrify his view. 

II. 2. 

Now the mountain's steep beneath, 

The winter's flood has found its shores ; 
Now the north wind sweeps the heath 

On our driving battle pours ; 



412 



TRIUMPHS OF VENGEANCE, 



O'er the billows of the war, 

Rodorigo shines afar; 

The Northern Bear, with ruffian sway, 

That bore the Eagle's spoil away ; 

Alarick's tremendous name 

Burn his cheek with rage and shame ; a 

Seven nights, asleep, awake, 

Fast the bubbles rise and break ; b 

Mighty warrior, mighty lord ! c 

Will not greatness ease afford ? 

Round him teazing visions fly, 

Suspense's shifting form and writhing agony. 

II. 3. 

Seven nights and seven days 
Will he gain a hero's praise — 
Wide the doors enchanted throw, 
Blast his soul's desire and show ! 
King, those swarthy warriors see, 
Foes, that will thy victors be ; 
Read the characters of fate, 
They proclaim thy kingdom's date ; d 
Urging is the unseen pow'r, 

End of doubt and end of strife ; 
Soon will come the fatal hour, 

Last of war, and last of life ; 
Vain the ardour, vain the toil, 
Thine is not the joy of spoil ; 
Stony horror fills thine eyes ; 
Trumpets of Glory sound, and swell him till he dies. 

III. 1. 

Live, Hope ; prediction is but vain ; 
Mists gather to disperse again ; 
Does the thunder rend the skies ? 
In innoxious tears it dies — 
Ah ! who is that, in deep despair, 

Retiring with the lion's shame, 
The fury of his glowing air, 

A fire's expiring flash of flame ; 
By Fate's unmoving gaze downcast, 
Weary, mad, forlorn, and last : 
Flown are his bands ; alone remain 
Drops of the tempest's ceasing rain ; 



a Roderick was the last of the Gothic line of 
kings. 

b Roderick had 130,000 foot, and 35,000 horse. 
Tariff had 30,000 horse and 180,000 foot. The 
battle continued for seven days together from 
morning to night. 

c "Mighty victor, mighty Lord. '' Gray. 



d Roderick, upon hopes of treasure, opened a 
part of his palace, of long time forbidden to be 
touched ; but found nothing but pictures resem- 
bling the Moors, with a prophecy, that, when- 
soever the palace was there opened, the people there 
resembled should overcome Spain. 



TRIUMPHS OF VENGEANCE. 413 

u Low the gasping Hero lies," a 

(Hear the exulting Father's yell) 
" Gambol/' he screams, u ye fiends, before his eyes, 
" And greet his harrow' d ears with howls of Hell. 

III. 2. 

" Is he gone, the Lord of Light, 

" The Sun, that spread his beams so wide? 
ie Woe to Spain and endless night ! 

" Shone he high in noon of pride ? 
u No, it was with a glimmering flame, 

tf The mockery of a winter's morn ; 
" Where is the odour of his fame ? 

" Gone with the fleeting flow'r, for ever, ever gone." 

III. 3. 

Julian, hear my dying breath ; 

(Prophetic is the voice of death ;) 

Think'st thou that belongs to thee, 

The mighty of the mightiest decree ? 

He grants the infidel an hour 

To punish Vice's lawless power ; 

W T hy pass those sages o'er the vale ? 

All hail, ye unborn nations, hail, 

With beaming eyes of brighter rays ! b 

Turn, instrument of Heaven, and gaze — 

Ah ! famish'd in a dungeon deep, 

At the bright day does Julian weep ? 

Dead do thy wife, thy children, lie ) 

Liv'd they with wishes but to die ? 

Blest is Roderick that's gone — 

Forget not in thy woes this parting smile of scorn. c 



a What became of Roderick was never known 
(says Heylin) ; his soldiers took one arrayed in his 
cloaths, whom, upon examination, they found to 
be a shepherd, with whom, after the discomfiture, 
the king had changed his cloaths. However, as it 
is generally understood he perished, the poetical 
variation (inevitable) is of no moment. 



b The introduction of science into Europe was a 
consequence of the arrival of the Saracens in Spain. 

c Julian, after seeing the miserable death of his 
wife and children, was starved in prison by the 
Moors. 



414 THE RED MAN. 

THE RED MAN. 

AN ODE, 
IN THE MANNER OF GRAY AND COLLINS. 



The Red Man, or L'homme rouge, so called because a little muffled figure, 
wholly attired in red, is the daemon, or familiar, who in vain warned Buonaparte 
of every impending danger. [See Paul's Letters, pp. 430, 431.] Upon this 
legend; the Comet; which appeared over Corsica about the period of Napo- 
leon's birth; that of 1811 ; and the newspaper account of a figure seen in the 
Sun, with a banner, at first erect and surrounded by other figures, but at last 
prostrate and broken in pieces, this Ode is founded. As it was a subject, purely 
suggested by a favourable bearing to Poetry, and the Author merely speaks in the 
character of the Red Man, nothing political is intended. 

I. 1. 

" Lo ! A King of the Sky comes forth, 

" Marching stately tow'rds the North ; 

" Awful stranger ! dost thou bear 

" Omens, sparkling on thy hair? 

" Does thy train of blazing glow, 

" The battlers hurly burly show ? 

Ci Or does thy pale orb's misty gleam 

" Show that widows' tears must stream ? 

ci Dost thou come in pomp to bring, 

u Or wrath to take away a King ? 

ei Making now and now undoing, 

(i Gamboling with Fate and Ruin ? 

" Art thou come to show God's ire, 

" A migratory world on fire ? 

" Or, art thou He, who at the birth 

" Of Gallia's Lord alarm'd the earth ? 

"Is the Eagle, soon to fly 

ee Where he'll droop his wing, and die ?" 

Thus the wond'ring Red Man spoke 

As his sleep an Earthquake broke. 

I. 2. 

Ah ! the Earthquake shakes again ! 
The tumbling Column a strews the plain. — 
How like the Waterfall, what time the Star 
Of Night comes pacing up the dusky West, 
Back'd by dark groves, bright glistening from afar 
I saw thee, France, in robes of Glory drest ; b 

a Erected by Buonaparte in imitation of that of French Revolution, when social perfection and 

Trajan. happiness were to result from a system, which held 

b This and the following stanza (which I in utter disregard religion and virtue ; a monstrous 

published years ago, in the collections of a poetical absurdity 
friend), allude to the pompous pretensions of the 



THE RED MAN. 415 

Fine as the waving light of summer noon, 

Soft as the breeze that sweeps the evening deep, 

Thy distant Paeans in luxurious swoon 

Made my exulting ear enchanted sleep ; 

Ah ! where is he, who knows not to admire 

The meteor blaze of Fame, and twinkling dance of Fire ? 

I. 3. 

Oh ! I have gazed enraptur'd with the scene 
Till fairy dreams upraised my buoyant soul; 
Sounds of delight " from airy harps unseen/' 
Shades of the blest, i( whose glittering skirts unroll 5 ' 
Elysian groves, whence cooling odours blow, 
Immingled roses in deep burning blush, 
Essential light in streaming gales, that throw 
O'er softest glades of green a lustrous flush ? 
The dancing Hours and Nymphs of purpled wing, 
Sporting with smiling Loves and Zephyrs of the Spring. 

II. 1. 

Alas ! while thus we sleep and dream, 

How sad to breathe but pestilential steam ; 

Pity and Hope go hand in hand 

To sue, where Fate does not command, 

But cannot bear a form to see 

More ugly, than Adversity ; 

Ages, like the waters, sweep 

In rolling volumes to the deep ; 

And Grandeur's perishable pride, 

A bubble floating down the tide, 

Glitters in the noon-day beam, 

Then bursts and mingles with the vulgar stream. — 

II. 2. 

Sorrow, Red Man, thou must not feel 

Hammer and forge thy soul to steel ; 

Thou must away to pull the bell 

Which tolls a dying Empire's knell; 

While, o'er his writhing prey, a lion roaring 

Shakes his majestick mane, and mocks the tone deploring. 

II. 3. 

Loudly once the Red Man knocks ; 

The doors unfold, the chamber rocks ; 

Si Hero, doomed to Sight and shame ; 

" Listen to him, thou canst not name ; 

" Dost thou hear the thunder roll ? 

et It bodes a tempest in thy soul. 

" Will thy Wolf attempt to tear 

" His white beard from the Northern Bear ? 

e{ Know'st thou not, his breath alone 

a Can freeze the ruffian into stone ? 

e( Ah ! look not thus with sneering eyes, 

i: The Summer with the swallow flies. 

Ci Is ambition void of woe ? 

ff Russia is a Hell of Snow. 



416 



THE RED MAN, 



III. 1. 

" Close thy imperial ashes in an Urn, a 

" Thy soul, an iEtna, will for ever burn. 

" Giant of France, and Husband of her choice, b 

" The Oracle of Victory thy voice ! c 

" Spur again the horse of War ; 

iC Ah ! what but Vapour is the falling star ? 

" Those warriors old, who scorned to fly, 

" In dumb astonishment must die : 

" Is the Emperor and King 

" An insect now without a sting ? 

ci Shouldered from his gaudy throne 

" By those, whom he was proud to own ; d 

(i Fair was the bride of Austria, fair the Morn, 

" When he the Ceesar King was born. 

cc Screw the torture to his heart ? 

" The Father from his only Child must part ; 

a Are his Marshals false and hollow ? 

" Will Birds of Prey not carrion follow ? 

(i In black procession to inter his fame 

" They stalk ; but still the smoke betrays surviving flame." 

III. 2. 

" What dost thou laugh in scorn ? Ah ! then 

"Thou dog within a lion's den, 

Ci Take the boon contempt will give ; 

" A statue on a pedestal to live ; 

" Gaze on to-morrow's Sun, and see 

ee The signs that Heaven shows to thee ; 

ei Say then, c I see ; but not believe f 

" Hereafter, c I have seen ; and grieve/ " 

III. 3. 

" Land of the bravest brave and fairest fair ! 

" Thou land, that worshippest God's blessed Son ! 

" Thou land, that teachest to forgive and spare ! 

a Thou land, that praisest, when God^s will is done ! 

ce Too great to fear, and too humane to hate, 

" Royal in mind, he 's still in patience great ; e 

a Let Nature^s saintly milkiness, in grace 

" Grant to the Sire once more a Son's embrace ; 

" A Belisarius without a home 

" Who fears ? who now regards his pageant reign of Rome ?" 



* Elba. 

b It is well known, that Universal Conquest 
was a favourite project in France, long before the 
time of Buonaparte. He only married the Na- 
tional Vanity for her fortune, and was governed 
by his wife, an imperious fury. 

c As soon as the Emperor appeared in the field 



at the commencement of any battle, the soldiery 
rent the air with shouts. Labaume. 

d The Austrian family, whose junction with the 
Allies, first turned the scale against him. 

e From his character, dispassionately drawn, in 
the Edinburgh Review. 



-11 



THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 
A Parody on Collins' s Ode to the Passions. 

When Revolution, fidler blind, was young, 
(While yet in modern France he sung) 
The Democrats to hear him sing 
Thronged around the vulgar ring; 
Exulting, trembling, raging, fainting, 
Fuddled, beyond the Muse's painting ; 
By turns they felt a moon-struck mind; 
To castle-building much inclined : 
With fresh supplies of gin then fir'd, 
Fill'd with fury, rapt, inspir'd; 
They snatch'd from the surrounding boys 
Their various instruments of noise : 
And, as they oft had heard apart 
From thieves, the signal- whistle's art ; 
Each, for madness rul'd the hour, 
Would prove his own seditious power. 

First Hardy* came his skill to try 
Amongst the Corresponding trade ; 
And back recoil' d — he well knew why — 
Of neck-extension sore afraid. 

Tom Paine, combustible most dire. 
Next made the rich Stockholders sweat ; 
The hangman to his tail set fire,t 
And off he scamper' d, deep in debt. 

In Purley^s meadows, Johx Horxe Tooke 
With parts of speech his grief beguiFd ; { 
The Yerbo-philosophic book 
By fits was fine, by starts was wild. 

But thou, O Fox, with speech so fair, 

What was thy opposing measure ? 

Still it whisper' d pensioned pleasure, 

And bade the places good at distance hail ; 

Still would his touch the strain prolong, 

And from the India Bill's sad tale, 

He calPd on Westminster through all the song : 

And when to toast the Sov'reign mob he chose. 

His title lost,^ he mournM at everv close ; 



* Secretary to the Corresponding Society, and I J The "Diversions of Puvley," which reduce 
tried for treason. the parts of speech to only the noun and verb. 

f The Age of Reason was burnt by the common j § Mr. Fox's name was erased from the Privy 
hangman. Council for this toast. 



418 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 

And Fox neglected wept, and wav'd his pig-tail'd hair ; 

Yet longer had he sung — but with a frown, 

Burdett impatient rose ; 

And threw his bonnet rouge in thunder down ; 

And with his Palace- Yardian look, 

The mob-collecting trumpet took; 

And blew a blast so loud and dread, 

Ne'er were the Cornish Burghs so full of woe ; 

And ever and anon he beat, 

The Cobbett Drum with furious heat; 

And though at times, each dreary pause between, 

Th' Attorney General at his side, 

His soul- subduing voice applied, 

Yet still he kept his wild unalter'd mien, 

Till in the Tow'r close shopp'd, he laid his aching head. 

Thy numbers, Cochrane, to the Funds were fix'd, 

Sad proof of thy distressful state ; 

Of war and politics the theme was mix'd, 

And now he woo'd employ, now raving called on hate. 

With eyes uprais'd, as one inspir'd, 

Pitt in the Treasury sat retir'd ; 

And from his snug official seat, 

In notes, by Lucre made more sweet, 

Pour'd through the Commons' House his winning soul ; 

From Opposition Rocks around 

Burke jump'd away, and hail'd the sound ; 

Through corp'rate towns the safety-measures stole, 

And o'er the bottle's talk with fond delay, 

Jacks in office port-wine boozing, 

Constitution toasts diffusing, 

At civic banquets drank away. 

But, oh ! how alter'd was its marching tone, 

When Government, a nymph of brawny hue, 

With Habeas Corpus o'er her shoulder flung, 

And Volunteers in buskins gemmed with dew, 

Blew an inspiring air, that inn and post-house rung, 

The soldier's call, to tippling idlers known ; 

The Cyprian fair, and their dram-drinking queen, 

Drummers and corporals were seen, 

Peeping from forth our alleys green ; 

Pipe-clay'd Militia-men rejoic'd to hear, 

And six-foot tailors grasp'd the sergeant's spear. 

Last came Finance's dubious trial, 

He with the income-tax advancing ; 
First to the yellow Gold his hand address'd, 
But soon he saw the Bank-restriction viol. 
Whose more prolific notes he lov'd the best ; 
They would have thought, who heard the strain, 
They saw in Lombard street the Bankers mad, 
All bills discounting, whether good or bad ; 
To rising Stock perpetual dancing ; 



THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 4J9 

While, as his flying fingers kiss'd the strings, 
Pitt and the Bank frani'd a fantastic round ; 
Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound, 
And he amidst his frolic play, 
As if he would one time or other pay, 

Exchequer Bills shook from his paper wings. 

Oh ! Money, earth-extracted maid ! 

The lender's loss, the borrower's aid, 

Say, Goddess, why to us denied, 

Layest thou prices high aside ; 

As in that loaf-in-seven-days year a , 

When things were most confounded dear ; 

Link'd arm in arm, O Nymph endear'd, 

Thou hast with strumpets forged appear'd— - 

Where is thy native form unlying, 

Scales and weights and dirt defying? 

Arise as in that elder time, 

Sweated and clipped, but still sublime ; 

Thy wonders in that golden age 

Fill England's subsidizing page. 

'Tis said (and I believe the tale) 
That Guineas were expos'd to sale ; 
And that our latest cask of beer, 
The Sinking Fund, was tapp'd this year ; 
Pitt, I with weeping say, seduc'd 
The Bank, and left her much reduc'd ; 
Scarce left her bare back clothes enough, 
And made her Fame a Lottery Puffj 
Abortive drugs were given by Pitt — - 
But now laid in, she bears gold yet. 

Some years back the consumption of bread was restricted to a quartern loaf per week for each person. 



E 2 



420 



ON A LADY BATHING. 

In the manner of the Italian Concetto. 

Be hushed, ye winds, ye tempests, cease, 
My Love now tries the faithless main ; 

Be still, ye waves, and glide in peace, 
Until my Love returns again. 

But should the wat'ry mountains roll, 
And overwhelm their lovely prize ; 

*Twere just, for she their treasures stole 
Their brightest glittering gems for eyes. 

But see, more bright in all her charms, 

My darling girl returning see j 
She tells me all her soul's alarms, 

What boldly dar'd the saucy sea. 

That down her hair in fond embrace, 
The raptured waves enamour' d clung, 

And loth to leave so sweet a place, 
In pearls adown her tresses hung. 

That one fond wave upon her breast 

To die in ecstasy resolv'd ; 
And weeping, that it was so blest, 

In show'rs of joyous tears dissolved. 

Yet, grateful still for so much bliss, 

It left a gift its love to prove, 
And fixM its coral in a kiss 

Upon her ruby lips of love. 



421 



EPITAPH. 

In the German manner 



Humanity, sweet sister of Sympathy, 

Gratitude, beauteous daughter of Honour, 

Ye delicious melodies of applauding Conscience ; 

Ye smiling eyes of undefecated Affection ; 

Ye overpowering felicities of unutterable Sensation ; 

Ye meek Cordialities ; ye holy Pieties of Nature ; 

Welcome into eternity 

The friend of those who wanted friends, 

CHARLES HAYWARD, Esquire, of Quedgley : 

An elegant scholar, 

His bright mind was a continual sunshine ; 

A generous patron, 

Genius and Learning felt not the spurn of sensuality ; 

A friend to the best interests of his country, 

He blended the patriot and the subject : 

A man of opulence, 

He founded not his character upon it ; 

A man of family, 

He spoke not unwisely, or acted perniciously. 

Almighty Father ! 

May thine own energies of thine own religion 

Now make him as thyself, 

All glorious ! All happy ! 



GENERAL INDEX. 



ABBEY-GATE, 281. 

pieces, what, 275. 

Abbot, ) appellation, 83. 

Abbess, /rank, 83. Lay Abbots, 83. Elec- 
tion, 84, seq. Qualifications, 85. Exemp- 
tion, 85. Benediction, 86. Customs, duties, 
&c 87—93. Table, residence, 93, 94. 
Power, &c. 101, 102. Dress, 103. Charac- 
ter, 104, 105. Vices, 106, 107, seq. Deaths, 
107. Officers, 107, seq. Apartments, 108. 
Mitres, 285. 

Accomplishments, female, what, 185. 

Advent, duties of, &c. 32. 

Albs, 56. 

Alleluia, burial of, 56. 

i! ££>»*«*«■ 

Almoner, various of, 130. 

Almonry, various of, 244. 

Altar, various of, 201. 

Amazons, modern, 340. 

Amess, 189. 

Anchorets, 370, seq. 

Anchor-holds, 372, seq. 

Angels instigating Pilgrimage, 323, 324. 

Animals kept, 162. 

Antiquity, forged, 10. 

Antony, St. converts of, 66. 

Anthony Pig, 66. 

Ara Frode, 325. 

Arms, why iterated, 320. 

Asceticks, 10, 11. 

severities, laity attached to, 2. 

Ash-Wednesday, 48. 
Asses, feasts of, 42, 48, 51. 
Astell, Mary, her college, 298. 
Astrology, 6. 
Auguries, 7, 159. 

Augustinian Rules, 72. Costume, 286. Ere- 
mites, 82, 236, 237. Costume, 286. 
Austere system , effects of, 1 , 2. 
Bacon, when allowed, 32. 
Bakehouse, 278. 
Bakers, 193. 
Ball-play, 56. 
Bangor Abbey, 23. 
Baptism, 35. 
Barbarians, who, 3. 
Bare-feet, 318. 
Baths, 11. 

Bauble, origin of, 44. 
Bear-baiting, &c. 160. 
Beard, why worn, 319. 
Beds, 227. 
Beguines, 298, 385. 
Bells, various of, 16, 52, 209, 392. 
of Pilgrims, 316. 



Benedicite salutation, 30, 184. 

Benedict XII. constit. 60. 

Benedictines, Rule, 66, 68. Costume, 286. 

Benedictions, origin of, 35. Farewell, 239. 

Of Abbesses, 292. 
Benett's, St. Priory, 197. 
Billets sawing, 235. 
Binnacle, ancient, 331. 
Binham Priory, 197. 
Blacking, first use, 283. 
Blue-coats, origin, 196. 
Bon-hommes, 82. 
Bookbinding, 259. 
Boots, origin of, 283. 
Bourdon, 315. 
Brazen-heads, 7. 
Breeches, 282. 

Brigettines, Rule, 80. Costumes, 287. 
Brothers of the Sack, 82. 
Buonaparte, character of, 414. 
Burials, Monastick, 213. 

in a cowl, 173. 

Buildings, Monastick, 197. 
Bursar, 125. 
Camel's-hair, what, 14. 
Candlemas day, 32, 311. 
Candles, when lighted, 35. 
Candlesticks, 203. 
Canonical hours, 28, 29. 

Canons, ( ca ^ ™\. w 
' (_ regular, bo, /2. 

Canterbury bells, 356. 

Caricatures, 258. 

Carmelites, Rule, 78. Costume, 287. ' 

Carter, John, his Specimens of English Eccle- 
siastical Costume, 290—296. 

Carthusians, 71. Costume, 287. 

Castles classified, 198, seq. 

Catharine, St., the Virgin and Martyr, chapel 
of, 356. 

Cats, devils, 7. 

Caym, what it meant, 172. 

Cellarar, cellar ess, 118. 

Cells, 271. 

in orders Eremite, 232. 

in the Dormitory, 311. 

Chamberlain, 141. 

Chapter, various of, 222. 

Charities, what, 31, 264. 

Chivalry, 263. 

Choir-girl, form of investing, 311, 312. 

Choristers, 373. 

Christmas day, various of, 41. 

Christmas box, 44. 

Chronicles, who versed in, 361. 

Church, 198. British, and a Saxon, what, 16, 
198. Ornamenting of, 43. Service, 62, 
209. Of Nuns, 309, seq. 



424 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Church -yard, various of, 213. 

Cistertians, 65, 69. Costume, 287. 

Clergy, why denied matrimony, 23. 

Cloaths of the Monks, 286. 

Clogs, 283. 

Cloister, various of, 23, 49, 50, 229, seq. 

Clugniacks, 65, 68, &c. Costume, 287. 

Cockade, origin, 284. 

Collation, 31. 

Combs, various of, 283. 

Comets, prophetick, 4. 

Common-house, 274,311. 

Commons, what, 219. 

Completory, Complin, 30, 31. 

Compostella, shrine of St. James at, 354. 

Concubines, what, 23. 

Confession, various of, 225, 226. 

Confessional, 205, 310, 

Convent, what made, 21. 

Converse, or Penitent Prostitutes, 383. 

Convert Husbands and Wives, 383. 

Cook, 123. 

Copes, 55. 

Corporal, 202. 

Corpus Christi day, 59. 

Costumes, various of, 16, 18, 282, 290—296, 

305, 306, 320. 
Counters, arithmetick, 275. 
Courtesies, Monastick, 184. 
Courts, Monastick, 262. 
Cowhouse, 281. 
Cowl, 282. 
Cripts, 205. 

Crosiers, various .of, 96, 103. 
Cross, various of, 34, 35, 55. 
Crusades, 340 — 343. 

Crusaders, various of, 319, 328, 337—343. 
Cyr, St. Ceremonial of the Nuns of, 309 — 313. 

Festival of, 313. 
Dais, high, 86. 
Dancing, various of, 228. 
Danes, why they destroyed the Monks, 23. 
Day-socks, 31. 
Deans, 116. 

Death, without confession, &c. 3. 
Degrees, expensive, &c. 187. 
Dependent Churches, 269. 
Deposits in Abbeys, 230. 
Devil, various of, 5, 7. 
Diffinitors, 146. 
Dinner, various of, 219. 
Disciplines, various of, 223. 
Dissolution of Abbies, 308. 
Divination, various of, 7. 
Divinity, study of, how rewarded, and what, 6, 

seq. 
Dominica] prayer, clause in, 352. 
Dominicans, 74. Costume, 287. 
Dormitory, 227, 311. 
Dove at the ear, 15, 16. 
Dovecote, 281. 
Dreams, prophetick, 6. 
Dress, various of, 4, 285. 
Druidism, 18, 21. 
Dwarfs, 340. 

Easter, ceremonies of, 34. 
Economy of Monastic Life, a Poem, 389. 
Education, various of, 183, 185, 186. 
Embaterienne, 316. 
Epitaph on C. Hayward, 421. 
Ewenny Piiory, 197. 
Exchequer, 275. 



Exercise, when taken, 366. 

Expulsion, what, 224. 

Fanaticism, various of, 2. 

Farm-houses, inns 267. 

Fasting, when, 57 

Feasts, what, 44. 

Fellow-sisters, 194. 

Festivals, various of, 41, 357. 

Fifty years, lines on the last, 419. 

Fillan, St. bell in the chapel of, 324, 325. 

Fish-ponds, 218. 

Flesh, why forbidden, 218. 

Fontevraud Nuns, 82, 160. 

Fonts, various of, 35. 

Fool, domestick, 171. 

Fools, feast of, 44. 

Fool-waker, 210. 

Forms for prostration, 50. 

Franciscans, 78, 79. Costume, 288. 

Fraternity, letters of, 173. 

Free warren, why, &c. 153. 

Friars, various of, 168, seq. 

Friday, how sacred, 57, 220. 

Frock, what, 282. 

Fulgentius, rule of, 37. 

Furnariae, 193. 

Galilees, 205. 

Garden, 279, 311. 

Gedding, Protestant Nunnery at, 298. 

Gems, variety of, 7. 

General Chapters, 163. 

General of the Order, 145. 

Genuflections, 34. 

Gilbertines, 77. Costume, 288, 289. 

Gipsies, 335. 

Girdle, 27, 284. 

Glastonbury, 11, 12. 

Good-bye, origin of, 239. 

Grace-cup, origin of, 216. 

Grace-saying, 38. 

Grandmontines, 65, 70. 

Granges, 271, 399. 

Grave, visitation of, 214. 

Greeting-House, 238. 

Guest-Hall, 238. 

Hair, cutting off, 178. 

Hair-shirts, various of, 16. 

Hammocks, unknown, 25. 

Handkerchief, 283. 

Hand- organ, how played, 257. 

Hayward, Charles, epitaph on, 421. 

Head-coverings, 284. 

Hebdomadary, who, 32. 

Hermitages, 381. 

Hermits, 370, 379. 

Heroick love, 364, 365. 

Herses, 203. 

Historical reasoning, when correct, 3. 

Holy -water -basins, 205. Aspersion of, 310. 

Holy-wells, 360. 

Horse-back, two on, 25. 

Hospitaler, 140. 

Knights, 66, 75. Costume, 289. 

Origin, 341. 
Hospital, Statutes, 297. 
Host, various of, 206, 278. 
Hot Cross buns, origin of, 54. 
Houses, British, 198. 
Housewifery, 185. 
Hunting, various of, 105, 153. 
Ignorance, what favourable to, 3. 
Illumination of MSS. 256. 



GENERAL INDEX 



425 



Images, various of, 355. why on tombs, 257. 

Impresses, 364. 

Impiety of Caligula, PhiloJudaus's treatise of, 

246. 
Indelicacy, female, 185. 
Infirmarer, Infirmaress, 135. 
Infirmary, 233, 311. 
Intermeals, 217. 
Ironing, substitute for, 285. 
Jacobites, 168. 

Jerusalem, pilgrimage to, 323. 
John's Day, bonfire on, 311. 
Jongleurs, 361. 
Jubilees, 350. 
Judgment, what, 222—224. 
Juniors, who, 265. 
Kilpeck Church, 205. 
Kings, office of the three, 47. 

Anglo-Saxon, 28. 

Kington, St. Michael, Nunnery of, 185. 

Kirtle, 282. 

Kiss of peace, 95. 

Kitchen, 276, 277. 

Kitchener, 123. 

Knife, 283. 

Lady bathing, verses on, 420. 

Lady-chapels, 205. 

Lady of Pity, 355. 

Lateran Council, decrees of, 59, 60. 

La Trappe, Monks of, 299, seq. 

Lavatory, 216. 

Laundresses, what, 334. 

T /brothers, 7 191. 

"*? 1 sisters, 5 193. 

Lazy Scoundrel, whence derived, 183. 

Lecterns, 203. 

Lectionary, 259. 

Lecturer, 128. 

Lents, various of, 190. 

Leonine verse, 400. 

Letters, dimissory, 190. 

Library, various of, 245. 

Lights extinguished, 51. 

Literature, Monastick, various of, 246. 

Lockers, 204. 

Locutory, various of, 243. 

Love-making, various of, 368. 

Lulworth Monks, 299, seq. 

Magick, 6, 7. 

Malt-liquor, various of, 218. 

Mantle, what, 282. 

Mark, St. day of, 57. 

Martin, Rule* of, 14. 

Martyrology, 222. 

Masham, Lady, 299. 

Masquerades, 160. 

Mass, when said, 366. 

Mats, how used, 130. 

Maundy, 30, 33. 

Medicine mixed with reliques, 7. 

Meridians, 36, 227. 

Midlent Sunday, origin of, 33. 

Minstrels, various of, 165. 

Minution, 234. 

Mints, 275. 

Miracles, various of, 8, 9. 

Misericord, 264. 

Misfortunes, how construed, 3. 

Mitre of Abbots, 285. See too Abbot. 

Monachism, why successful, 8, 9. British, 13. 

Scotch, 18. Irish, 19. Early Anglo-Saxon, 

21, seq. Modern, 298, seq. 



Monastic life, rhymes on, 150, 151. 

Monks, Nuns, various of, 148, seq. 

Mountjoyes, what, 356. 

Museum, 253. 

Necrology, 222. 

Needle, antiquitv of, 39. 

Needle-case, 39," 283, 284. 

Needle-work of Nuns, 185. 

Novices, Master of, 132. Mistress of, 133. 

various of, 173, seq. form of investing 

female, 311. 

Novitiates, British, 14. 

Nuns, British, 17, seq. Costume of, Plate, 
284. Faults of, 1/7, seq. Stile of, 178. 
Consecration, &c. 187, seq. Customs at 
Church, &c. 309, seq. 

Nuns' Confessor, 147. 

Obedientiaries, 110. 

Obscene words used, 185. 

Octaves, what, 56. 

Officers, inferior, 143. 

Omens, influence of, 6. 

Organs, 204. 

Oriel, 237. 

Otters eaten, 218. 

Pachomius, Rule of, 23. 

Painted Glass, various of, 206. 

Palace, meaning of, 220, 238. 

Pall, 202. 

Palmers, 344. Staves, 316. 

Palm-Sunday, 32,33. 

Palm tree, 316. 

Pancakes, origin of, 48. 

Paradise, where, 325. 

Parental indulgence deemed criminal, 2, 3. 

Parlours, various of, 243. 

Paschall, 50, 54. 

Passion-week, 33, 50. 

Pattens worn, 283. 

Pavement, Encaustick, &c. 208, seq. 

lines cut in, 205. 

Pax, what, 95. 

Peace, giving the, 30. 

Penance, curious, 349. 

Pensile tables, 204. 

Penitents, reconciliation of, 231. 

Phlebotomy, 233. in the foot, 311. 

Physick, kitchen, 236. 

Pilch, 284. 

Pilgrimage, signs of, 316. of Grace, what, 406. 

Pilgrims, Costumes, 315. Antiquity of Pilgrim- 
age, British Pilgrims, 322. Consecration of 
Pilgrims, 326. Preparatory steps to the jour- 
ney, 328. Manners and Customs on shipboard, 
330 ; on the journey by land, 333. Arrival at 
Jerusalem — consequences of the Crusades, 
343. Miscellaneous of Crusaders, 387. Re- 
Rturn ome.— Palmers, 344. Pilgrimages of 
Punishment and Penance, 346. Pilgrimages 
to Rome, 350 ; to Compostella, 352. Pro- 
vincial Pilgrimages to Shrines, Wells, &c. 
355. Mourning, Incognito, and Political 
Pilgrimages, Pilgrims Adventurers, Pilgrims 
against Hereticks, 361. Love Pilgrims, 363. 
Office of Pilgrims in the Church of Rouen, 
369. 

Piment, 217. 

Pinnafores worn, 217. 

Pious frauds, 3. 

Pittance, what, 219. 

Plumage of birds, opinion of, 3. 

Porch (Church), 63. 



426 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Porter, Porteress, 136, 147. 

— of Barons, 367. 

Portraits, what, 184. 

Prsemonstratensians, 72. Costumes, 289. 

Prsecentor, 120. 

Prsecentrix, 122. 

Prior, 112. 

— — General, 145. 

■ Provincial, 145. 

Prioresses, 116. 

Prison, 261. 

Processions, various of, 231. 

Abbot's place in, 86. 

Professions, various of, 179. 
Promotion of Monks, 100. 
Psalm-singing, 25, 309. 

on journeys, 179. 

Pulpits, 206. 

Punishments, various of, 222, 223. 

Puritanism, origin of, 407. 

Red Man, an Ode, 414. 

Refectioner, 138. 

Refectory, 216, 297. 

Religion, how perverted, 3, seq. 

Reliquaries, 284. 

Repentance, rich exonerated from, 4, 5. 

Retro-choir, 205. 

Richard I., pilgrimage of, 329. 

Riding, criminal, 2. Through the hall, 408. 

Rings of Nuns, &c. 190. 

Robert the Devil, 347. 

Rochet, what, 282. 

Rogation days, 56. 

Roodlofts, various of, 204, 378. 

Rosary, 317. 

Rushes, church strewed with, 209. 

Sabbath, when, 27. 

Sacrist, 126. 

Sacristy, 282. 

Saints, various of, 3, 8, 11. attributes, 207, 

208. bells, 206. 
Sallads, 217. 
Sanctuary, 268. 

Saturday, various of, 27, 31, 37. 
Scapulary, what, 288. 
Scarf, 320. 
Scrip, 315. 

Scholastic learning, result of, 409. 
Seats in the Choir, 203. 
Seals, conventual, 229. 
Seneschals, 124. 
Sepulchre, Officer of, 55. 
Seniors, who, 265. 
Serpent, ceremony of, 33. 
Servants, 195, seq. 
Sermons, Monkish, 211, 212. 
Shaving of the Monks, 195. 
Shepherds, office of, 42. 
Shire Thursday, 51. 
Shoes, 283. 

Shoulders, women carried on, 334. 
Shrove Tuesday, 48. 
Signs, Monastic, 150. 
Silence, duty of, 149, 150. 
Sisters, who, 194. 
Smelling-bottles, 285. 
Socks, 283. 
Song-school, 273. 
Spettisbury Nuns, 306. 
Stable, 281. 
Stamin, 282. 



Standards of the Church, 231 . 

Statuaries, waxen, 358. 

Stonehenge, what, 389. 

Story-teller, whence derived, 36l. 

Studies, 260. 

Sub-prior, 116. 

Succentor, 121, 122. 

Sudden death, why, 3. 

Superstition, where unavoidable, 3. 

Tabard, 284. 

Table, what, 114. singing, 121. 

Tabulae, singing, 121. 

Tapers, 206. 

Tarring and feathering, 331, 332. 

Taverns, various of, 24. 

Tecla, Saint, 322. 

Templars, 65, 66, 76. Costumes, 289. foun- 
dation, 341, 342. 

Temporal good and evil, how connected, 4. 

Terrier of the house, 143. 

Thomas's day, custom of, 41. 

Threshing on the knees, 257. 

Thunder, effects of, 6. 

Tickets, drawing, 310. 

Tippet, 284. 

Toasts, drinking, 240. 

Tonsure, various of, 284. 

Tooth-drawing, 236. 

Towers, what for, 206. 

Trance, how construed, 6. 

Trappe, La, Monks of, 299, seq. 

Travellers, custom of, 26. 

Travelling of Monks, 265. by night how re- 
puted, 266. 

Treasurer, 125. 

Trental, 214. 

Trinitarians, 73. Costume, 289. 

Trinity, respect for, 16, 323. 

Sunday, 59. 

Triumph of Vengeance, an ode, 410. 

Troubadours, who, 365. 

Trumpets for bells, 23. 

Tumbling in Nunneries, 185. 

Tunicks, 282. 

Twelfth-day, 310. 

Vagrant Monks, 269. 

Vaticination, 6. 

Veils, 188, 284. 

Vestiary, 282. 

Veronique, Vernicle, 351. 

Victor, St. Order of, at Paris, 164. 

Vigils, 32. 

Vignettes, 258. 

Virgin Mary 50, 54. 

Visions, 6. 

Visitations, 59, 163, 164. 

Visitors, 238. 

Vows of Chastity, 383, seq. 

Universities, mode of living in, 186. origin of, 
406. 

Upper-crofts, 199. 

"Wardens (Franciscans), 146. 

Washing, how done, 24. 

Whale, exhibition of, 160. 

Whitsuntide, 57, 58. 

Whistling, admired, 273. 

Widows mourning, 384. 

Wimple, 282, 284. 

Witchcraft, 7. 

Writing, variety of, 255. 



427 



INDEX OF LATIN TERMS EXPLAINED. 



Acoemiti, 17. 

Agnus Dei, 57. 

Allivis, 187. 

Altaria Animarura, 203. 

Ampulla;, 126, 204. 

Analogium, 203. 

Annotatio Regulse, 222. 

Ante and Retro, 40. 

Antependium, 202. 

Antexenodocnium, 233. 

Anticse, 203. 

Antiphonar, 33. 

Antiquarii, 254. 

Arbores, 203. 

Arietem levare, 264. 

Bajuli obituum, 235. 

Barbaras, 3. 

Barbati fratres, 193. 

Bardicatio, 214. 

Benedicite, 30, 184. 

Biberes, 32. 

Breve, 213. 

Brodiatores, 255. 

Capelli, 369. 

Caritates, 31, 264. 

Ciborium, 202. 

Circa, Circator, 114. 

Clamatio, 223. 

Combennones, 20. 

Consolatio, 220. 

Consorores, 194. 

Contacium, 121. 

Continentes, 383. 

Conversi, 40. 

Conversae, 383. 

Coronse, 203. 

Credentia, 203. 

Cubiculum computatorium, 275. 

Culcitrae, 227. 

Culla, 231. 

Curise claustrales, 229. 

Curiarius, 108. 

Cymbalum, 216. 

Destina, 372. 

Digitus, 93, 216. 

Dorsale, 202. 

Eulogise, 69. 

Evigilans stultum, 210. 

Excubitoria, 204. 

Explorator, 114. 

Ezra, 203. 

Ferula, 31. 

Forma, 203. 

Formaria, Formarius, 147. 

Fratres, externi, 174. 

ad succurrendum, 191. 

Frico, 283. 
Grangiarius, 192. 



Gratia; , 211. 
Imaginarii, 7. 
Jacobitse, 354. 
Laura, 12. 
Lebitoties, 27. 
Liber Vitas, 222. 

Viventium, 219. 

Limina Apostolorum, 350. 
Liquamen, 24. 
Loricati, 378. 
Mandualis, 357. 
Mandra, 19. 
Manticulati, 315. 
Mappa Mundi, 202. 
Matricularius, 12?. 
Melotes, 27. 
Metansea, 203. 
Mixtus, 30. 
Monile, 325. 

(^ sine $ 
Nutriti, 183. 
Oblataa, 278. 
Oblati, 191. 
O Sapientia, 274. 
Palmiferi, 344. 
Panes coronati, 136. 
Particularius, 219. 
Paschall, 50, 54. 
Pax, 95. 
Peniti, 373. 
Perticae, 202. 
Pisalis, 282. 
Piscina, 202. 
Pix, 202. 

Portitor Sigilli, 108. 
Postica, 203. 
Prsepositus, 112. 
Presbyterae, 383. 
Pro -aula, 238. 
Proctor, 108. 
Psalmi prostrati, 40. 
Pulsatorium, 238. 
Pyrale, 274. 
Pyrocarae, 383. 
Quadra, 27. 
Regula, 222. 
Requies, 357. 
Retractus, 97. 
Retro-chorus, 205. 

Romei, Romipetae, Romipetagium, 350. 
Sacrarium, 126. 
Salve Regina, 36. 
Salutatorium, 238. 
Sanctimoniee, 278. 
Scimpodium, 25. 
Sclavina, 316. 
Scrippa, 330. 



428 



INDEX OF LATIN TERMS EXPLAINED. 



Scriptorium, 254. 
Scrobula, 318. 
Scrutatrices, 114. 
Secretarius, 126. 
Sedes Majestatis, 203. 
Sempecta, 265. 
Siborium, 202. 
Sigillum Altaris, 202. 
Skilla, 216. 
Spoliatorium, 223. 
Statio, 231. 
Tabula, 31 ; singing, 121. 



Tetravelum, 202. 

Titulus, 213. 

Triforia, 206. 

Trisantise, 226. 

Venia, 203, 306. 

Yestiaria, 282. 

Via Dei, Via Sanctorum, 333. 

Yiatores, 193. 

Viduae pullata?, 384. 

Yigiliarii, 228. 

Ultreia, 328. 

Xenodochium, 20. 



